This topic is where you can post your reviews and final votes in the GMCJam. The rules, as always, are listed below for those new members that are participating for the first time and we recommend that you read them before making any posts. For those veterans out there, skip the rules as nothing has changed since previous jams, and "START VOTING"!

---------------------------------------------------------------Voting Template
You don't have to use this, but it makes my life a lot easier if you do, so please consider adding the following template to your post, even if you wish to add mini-reviews and images for your chosen games.

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My votes go to

1st Place - name of the game - author2nd Place - name of the game - author3rd Place - name of the game - author
etc...

Best Use Of Theme - author

Best Use of Handicap - author

Best Use of Pets - author

Best Presentation - author

Best Reviews - author
Best Devblog - author

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Voting Rules
You may vote for as many (or as few) games as you wish in order of preference, with 1 being the winner and all subsequent games being runners up, but please vote for at least three! The zip file that is created for the Jam comes with a game "randomiser" so that the order you play the games in does not depend on their title or creator, so we ask that you please use it!

Apart from the voting you are encouraged to post a mini-review of the winning game (and any others you feel deserve it) explaining what you liked/disliked and why you think it deserves to win... Remember, this is a Community Jam and so feedback from the community is all important! We want to know what you think! Apart from that there are a few more rules to stick to...

Voting will last until Sunday, midnight, 15th Of November

Results will be posted on Monday the 16th!

Please post your votes FIRST, before any other text or images, and preferably using the above template.
Only ONE post per person (this is flexible but you MUST PM me for permission first). Any further conversation about a given game can be held in the Jam topic or in the topic of the game itself (if it has one). Any posts breaking this rule will be removed.
Your top three games MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SHORT REVIEW and posts with no reviews of at least the top three games will be considered at the time of counting.
If you are reviewing the games over the course of the voting period, use the button to add to your post, rather than post twice.Constructive criticism is fine, but comments like "This game sucks" will not be tolerated... so think before commenting! If your reviews are extensive or use images, please encase them in [spoiler] tags.
Please vote for at least YOUR TOP THREE GAMES, although you can vote for as many as you like (and every vote DOES count!).

NO talk of cheating in the Jam topics please. If anyone has any doubts about a post or a vote, then please REPORT the post or PM me with your thoughts and action will be taken accordingly.
For all votes, including the Best Ofs, be sure to include BOTH the game name AND the author name.
So that's it I think... Take your time to play as many games as possible, but don't feel pressured to play them all, and we shall see you all here again at result time to see who has the honour of being the Jam winner this time around!

Good luck to everybody and thank you all so much for participating in this most pet-tastic of occasions!

I wont have time to write reviews for every single game this time around. I'll play them all and score them though.

As always, I value FUN more than anything else. If the game is fun to play then it will recieve a good score. If it's great looking but really boring to play the score will be lower.

Oh, and I'm really blunt and straightforward.

Highscore list [30 reviews are done, the rest of the games will be played but only scored. Didn't have time for more, sorry! ]

Finished!

Spoiler

Mercerenies and Hiznopellagio

Spoiler

Looks really good, well done. However combat is not fun and the walking direction arrows are very confusing as the way back rarely is the opposite direction of the way there. Hard to know what to do as well, didn't make it through the forest. 6.5/10.

Sirham

Spoiler

A bit too much "in your face" about how bad the game is and how quickly it was made, that's annoying. I found it quite interesting though, difficulty scales a bit weird, I made it on 7 and went on to try 10 which wasn't fun at all. Still pretty cool. 6.5/10.

Kepons

Spoiler

Cool concept. The AI is too stupid to let the game use all of its potential though. Is the board symmetrical? If it is then there's no point in hiding which dinosaurs the other guy has, you'd know exactly what each question mark represents by comparing to your own guys. I like it though. 7/10.

Misu

Spoiler

Idk... I like that the handicap is there, kinda weird to punish loss by putting a black bar over the tutorial text though, seems harsh. It's not really all that much of a game yet as it lacks content. 2/10.

DetectivePixel

Spoiler

Not really a game. Some music would have been really nice. Looks great. 4/10.

PizzaBoy

Spoiler

Boring. Could have used a few more mechanics, enemies and stuff in general. Like the cat idea. 3/10.

NightOwl35

Spoiler

Collisions are way off when jumping on enemies, you can hit birds from below for example. The game shouldn't freeze when you take damage. Sometimes jumping on enemies grants another jump sometimes it doesn't, that's inconsistent.

I like the game, there's no bull****, just super simple, pure platforming. That's refreshing. 8/10.

Forester

Spoiler

For god's sake, don't lower the room speed, that's the FPS of the game. On a good run you've literally got <5 fps. Collisions are a bit off and you shouldn't die hitting a rock from the side, and you shouldn't be able to run outside of the room. I love online highscores though and couldn't resist claiming the #1 spot. 6.5/10.

DiligentDodo

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It's not really any fun. Too little diversity and not all that much going on. Didn't really understand how to die, I just ran through everything without getting punished...?

Cool dino though. 4/10.

Mortalo

Spoiler

You can drive off the screen by spamming up/down. Doesn't really ruin it as there's no real fun to be had down on the ground anyhow.

Looks amazing though quíte pointless. 5/10.

NAL

Spoiler

Looks amazing. UI is great. I wish I could place a letter also by dragging it to the appropriate box on the field as I tended to do that by impulse a lot. The game is ridiculously hard, especially in ones non-native tounge. Well made. No theme at all though. 8.5/10.

It's a bit uninteresting. I played for a while and nothing really changed at all, except that my acceleration got slower when I tried to die on purpose. How does one lose? I got slowed down at least 3 times and nothing happened anyways... No new mechanics were introduced during my playthrough either. Needs to be spiced up to stay fresh. 4/10.

SilverSteeples and Zedmonkey

Spoiler

Kind of a weird gameplay idea for a local multiplayer game, where one is invisible. Made it kinda hard to know where you are... Didn't really like it, felt a bit unfinished too. 4/10.

Theonewhoisodd

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Didn't play, I don't use installers. -

Dadio (the dark)

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This is just a tiled background... I'm not ranking this.

LordDestroyer

Spoiler

Would be nice with some sounds. Didn't really get the gameplay, couldn't make my cell do as I wanted. Looks interesting though. 5/10.

H3lli0n

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I don't use installers. -

Nivarthiakhil

Spoiler

Kinda cool. Feels like there's a reason to go fast but there really isn't any, which is a waste. A bit sluggish in general and too short, yet simple enough to learn quickly. 5/10.

RekNepZ

Spoiler

Not really any fun. Should be a game here somewhere, achievements would have been enough to some extent. 3/10.

Nvrogers

Spoiler

Kinda cool. Doesn't fit the theme at all...? I don't like how you get stuck in the walls when walking against them. The sync is cool yet the game could use some more variation. 6.5/10

Floofpaws

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Sounds would be nice. The hitboxes are way to clunky for such intense patterns. The resolution is too small to make such delicate movements. The patterns are cool though. 5/10.

Intoxicatious

Spoiler

Progression feels fake when every grown step introduces a previously unseen larger enemy, that kinda takes away from the whole growing experience. The hitbox for getting eaten is too big if the game is to just restart, it should be really narrow so that you feel eaten. The game is about immersion, which is best achieved in fullscreen, didn't find a way to trigger that. 7/10.

HayManMarc

Spoiler

Can I actually do something? Is this a game? I didn't get anything. 2/10.

Assassin7

Spoiler

Controls are akward, the game is utterly too simple and way too short. Kinda cool dinosaur, the animation isn't quite there yet though 2/10.

TheM

Spoiler

Cool AI, albeit not a huge challenge to outsmart. A bit weird to be able to fire stones as rapid as a prehistoric machine gun, made the club feel unnecessary. Solid platforming, cool idea. 9/10.

Sirham

Spoiler

Should be further away from your mic. Not really my sorta thing, was kind of funny to buy upgrades though. 3/10.

Xor

Spoiler

FPS setting defaults to 30 yet the frame rate is still 60 unless you change it twice back to thirty. Cool game, 3D in Game Maker isn't optimal so it's fancy. Not all that fun though. 6/10.

MrMagnus: 7.5/10

ExentrixZ: 3/10

Ixlegraw: 7/10

trg601 and moon489: 5/10

Greenblizzard: 8/10

Yal & TsukaYuriko: 7/10

Nallebeorn: 5/10

Chaosmore: 4/10

Boysano: 4/10

Diptoman: 9/10

Spoiler

The game is super solid. The mechanics feel great and it's fun to play. The biggest downside is that it feels pointless, the score system isn't really fun enough and the difficulty scale is very cheap after a while. Still great though!

Squarebit and Aamatniekss: 9/10

Spoiler

This game feels fresh! It's got a bunch of interesting mechanics mixed with humor and silliness (although you've quickly seen all the silly messages there is). I didn't quite master the whole concept though, I had a hard time figuring out what I could attack and what I should avoid, as well as what all the different stuff I found actually did. However, that didn't stop me from having a good time, which is all that really matters.

3. Insert nearly almost as gud as gud game before here too as well too

(NOT FINAL) Rankings:

Spoiler

1. God's Laboratory - ghandpivot

2. Ink Cipher - NAL

3. Devil's Symphony - nvrogers

4. Additive Blending - Floofpaws

Reviews:

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Devil's Symphony - nvrogers ( 4.5/10 )

Spoiler

OVERALL: 4.5/10

Gameplay 0.5/2

Graphics 0/2

Concept 2/2

Sound 2/2

Theme, Handicap, Hype Object 0/2

Pretty fun game, I liked the attacks of the bosses, I would've preferred more variation though. Played it only to the satan boss only since it got very repetitive. No use of theme, handicap or hype object were present to that point.

God's Laboratory - ghandpivot ( 7/10 )

Spoiler

OVERALL: 7/10

Gameplay 1/2

Graphics 1/2

Concept 2/2

Sound 1.5/2

Theme, Handicap, Hype Object 1.5/2

Very well made puzzles with many elements. Didn't complete the game however since I have to review other games too :D Theme was used, Hype Object was used in a funny way, but I don't think the handicap was used, correct me if I am wrong

Ink Cipher - NAL ( 6.5/10 )

Spoiler

OVERALL: 6.5/10

Gameplay 1/2

Graphics 2/2

Concept 1.5/2

Sound 2/2

Theme, Handicap, Hype Object 0/2

Didn't understand how to play this game lol. But it was very pretty and played well. No use of theme, handicap or hype object in the first level seen.

Best Use of Pets - Everybodys Gone to the Raptor by: Jobos Jam Juggernauts

Best Reviews - NightOwl35

And then the important stuff! ^^

Reviews [59/59]

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Adam by: JackOatley

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 31/60

- Graphics: 19/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 54/100

After having bred once I couldn’t do it again and the game pretty much lost its purpose. Until that moment it was fine, though a little confusing as the night came much faster than I had expected and I had to start over a few times before I got a hang of it. The graphics were really good with my only real concern being that I often pressed the wrong key when tending to the fire. If the game wasn’t broken I think it could have been really good!

Additive Blending The Game by: Floofpaws

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 23/60

- Graphics: 8/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 0/10

- Total: 31/100

For something with “game” in its title, there werent much gameplay to this thing. It was pretty fun until everything got completely white and it became impossible to have a sense of progression other than the increasingly rare messages. Now my arm hurts, maybe I should have gotten a button mash program after all...

After Pixel by: Sammi3

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 47/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 0/10

- Total: 72/100

I had fun playing the game but it lacked content and was over when the tutorial ended! The game may have looked a bit too much like Thomas was alone as while it did look good, it also felt lacking since you unconsciously compare the two. The voice acting was OK but much like the game itself it didn’t really go anywhere and the story wasn’t too interesting. I wish the game had used the fez-flipping for some more creative levels as it was used for two or so levels and then forgotten on the next.

Anki The Sumer Scientist by: mr magnus

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 43/60

- Graphics: 14/20

- Audio: 7/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 68/100

This game tried to do a lot of things but I’m not sure it succeeded. While the game was fun it felt unbalanced and unless I got massive combos, I could barely beat the levels. The later levels had so many unique tiles that it was near impossible to even use up all moves. I’m also not sure about the handicap use since when you lose a stage you lose some of the upgrades you’ve bought which quite literally means lost progress.

Black Knight 1000 by: Baron Mercury

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 47/60

- Graphics: 13/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 8/10

- Total: 68/100

This game’s interpretation of the theme was the most absurd yet I think but the way the handicap was handled was really clever. To me the game felt a bit messy and it was a bit hard to tell what did what and how pieces could move (especially pawns) but it felt new and interesting. I think the interface elements could use some improvements and polish to make it easier to understand, try adding tool tips, indication of where selected pieces can move and polish up those health bars and cooldown indicators (if that’s what those numbers were?) Maybe change up the pace a little to give the player more room to navigate and familiarize themselves with the level and add some sound effects and music too!

Cave Born by: TheMasterspiffy

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 34/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 3/10

- Total: 52/100

While the game had the polish and looks of a finished game its gameplay suffered from a few poor design choices which brought me to the point of quitting it. One rule when making platformers is to avoid blind jumps, that is: don’t force the player to make leaps of faith and hope that there’s solid ground below. The worst case where this happened here was in the last level where you’d have to jump down an level and if you were lucky you wouldn’t land on the dinosaurs below. If you did land on them you not only had to restart the entire stage, but also spend almost half a minute waiting for the character to bounce up those mushrooms every time! Other than that, I do think the game was pretty good and I eventually went back and beat that level too (thanks for saving my progress, btw).

Cave Conquerors by: kepons

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 44/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 67/100

This was an interesting strategy game. It was pretty clever and I had fun figuring out which dinosaur was good in which situation. It was a bit shallow though and not very difficult (I had to actively try to lose). It’d be great if there’d been a few more levels with various terrain and difficulty. It also was pretty slow and a bit tedious to only be able to move one step at a time. The graphics were pleasing but they could be a bit livelier with some animations every now and then to make it feel more real and less like chess pieces. Some sound effects would have been nice too.

Caveman's Guide To Pets by: Mocgames998

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- Gameplay: 39/60

- Graphics: 13/20

- Audio: 6/10

- Bonus: 8/10

- Total: 66/100

I read through the instructions before I started but it still took me several days before I understood what to do; it’s very confusing. It also feels a bit weird to use the keyboard for some segments but the mouse for others. I think the game in general wasn’t bad and the idea was clever but the game is a bit messy and it’s very hard to tell if you did something good or not. That also goes for the last rampage section, which purpose I couldn’t understand (score?). I’d have liked some more obvious feedback when things happen and a bit more varied gameplay as the best tactics wasn’t very fun (stand in a corner and button mash). The visuals could also use some improvement.

Cavemen And Dinos by: NightOwl35

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- Gameplay: 46/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 74/100

This was a nice and solid little game. Although a bit on the short side and not very novel, it was still well made, great looking and rather entertaining. I think the main gameplay could be more exciting and varied as it was mostly the same throughout the entire game. Most of the enemies seemed to work the same way too which was a bit disappointing (when you couldn’t jump on the stegosaurus it caught me by surprise and even ended up killing me J). The game used theme and handicap to an extent but again, it didn’t feel that unique. The theme use especially was really most in the graphics.

Cavemen With Peashooters by: GameDevDan

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- Gameplay: 47/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 7/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 76/100

The game generally had a high quality level which dipped at certain points (some jumps that worked against the engine, resetting game on defeat, some unfair enemy placements, etc.) All in all it left me with mixed, although mostly positive feelings. There were a lot of visual variation and a decent number of enemies that helped keep things interesting. It would have been great to have had some kind of map or similar to show which way to go (and more importantly, which way not to go) as I went left at the start of the game, expecting an upgrade or item but ended up outside the boss room and had to backtrack to the surface.

Cave War by: Joh

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 49/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 77/100

I liked this game a lot and it felt polished and ambitious. Still, even though there was a great deal of units to try out, it grew repetitive as I’d soon stick with the “obvious choices” as some units were clearly better than others. Battles also grew a bit dull as there wasn’t much for me to do but top sit and watch the units tear each other apart. On top of this the last mechanic, feeding clan members to others, wasn’t very useful. At one point I fed the entire clan to a mid-level t-rex without reaching more than one third of the experience bar. Oh, and at one point I encountered an enemy caveman with 2.5k hp. That was fun! ^^

Cellection by: Snail_Man

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- Gameplay: 47/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 10/10

- Total: 83/100

I don’t know where to start about this game. It took me several playthroughs before I understood just how much was randomized and that’s probably the first issue I had with the game: it doesn’t explain anything, controls in the menu differ from controls in the game and you don’t know how things work. Second is the randomization itself as there’s a bit too much of it. There’s a huge difference in playing with an agile ship with narrow fire spread compared to a sluggish tank with widespread shots. While that variety definitely was part of the game’s charm it also was a bit frustrating. Ideally, I’d have wanted to choose myself how the ship would evolve with a stat tree or something. I had one other issue too, which was the AI. Sometimes it would let me be without attacking me at all. Worse, at times it would speed to the bottom of the screen and become unkillable, effectively ending the game. Now, with that out of the way, I still enjoyed the game a lot. It was fun, engaging and the music and graphics were great! With a little balancing and looking at the above issues, it could become something great.

Cell Wars by: LordDestroyer

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 39/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 62/100

I spent quite a while with this game but I couldn’t beat it. At best I could end with a draw when I had full health and didn’t split, making me invulnerable from any attacks but even with that I was unable to take out enemies fast enough to keep them from increasing in numbers. I think the idea of the game was really interesting and it was executed well too. Some improvements would have been sound effects and an actual background as an anchor point to make moving around less confusing (because you can’t compare your position to anything). The QWER options were interesting but didn’t feel very useful because all cells acted too individually.

Charging Your Phone In Prehistoric Times Simulator 2015 by: Diptoman

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- Gameplay: 48/60

- Graphics: 19/20

- Audio: 10/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 83/100

I found the game to be pretty fun but very chaotic. The game looked great and there were a good deal of variety. Controls worked well enough but I had problems knowing what to do when I got overwhelmed while waiting for the lightning to strike. The flashlight worked against dinosaurs but the cavemen had a tendency to attack me either way and were hard to dodge. I think the idea was really fun, but playing it once was enough for me.

Clash of Primordial Goddesses by: Floofpaws

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 41/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 61/100

I couldn’t beat the game and each attempt onlo got me about as far as the last. It’s not a bad game but the difficulty level was pretty rough. 1.4 was waay before my time and while there were some issues (game crashed after each loss, possibly minor slowdown on complex patterns, etc) it didn’t hinder the game from being fun to play. I wish there were some sounds though, that’d been nice.

CyberDino by: ExentrixZ

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 17/60

- Graphics: 11/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 33/100

One of the most important things to do when you make a game is to test it! I couldn’t beat the third level no matter how I tried (and I tried at least four times). The fact that the game freezes and requires you shut it down and restart it is also pretty harsh. There seem to be a lot of creativity behind the game, with all areas being unique and new things being introduced as you play but if the game is almost unplayable then no creativity will help it.

DA NUMSKULZ by: dadio

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 42/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 5/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 65/100

There was some serious madness in this one. The game was well made and indeed creepy but also very repetitive and gameplay wise not very exciting. The video in the background was entertaining the first few times but after twenty or so laps, it went to a level beyond annoying. I think the game should have been quite a bit harder so that it definitively would end before it got too repetitive and also bring a level of skill to the game that didn’t really exist yet. It also won’t get a very high score for the theme.

Devils Symphony by: nvrogers

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 57/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 86/100

This game had me from the start with its absurd genius! The patterns were matched to the music really well and the difficulty scaled perfectly. I think the handicap, while not very exciting, was implemented in a clever way that forgave failures without feeling like cheating since (I think) you couldn’t actually lose. The bullet graphics were great but the rest of the game was a bit boring and lifeless. Also, I’m pretty sure you got the theme wrong because there wasn’t much prehistoric about the game. Still, it’s an incredibly funny and polished game.

Dino Delivery by Ixlegraw

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 45/60

- Graphics: 19/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 77/100

I had fun with this game. It was neat and felt polished although playing it once was about enough. I think the time limit was a little higher than optimal and it would be more interesting to play it in shorter bursts. The use of handicap was clever and the graphics were really good. Had this game had online highscores or some other thing to encourage replaying the game it’d have been great!

Dino Die by: Nallebeorn

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 39/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 70/100

The game was short, albeit funny. It was a very clever way to use the handicap, except maybe for the fact that there was no progress to lose in the first place and that probably my biggest complaint; it’s novel and funny the first time through, but there is absolutely no reason to play it again. I also found that you could hide out of view when the screen zoomed in and be unable to get hit.

Dino Jam by: Lindion45 and Panzergeist

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 32/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 3/10

- Total: 62/100

For a game without much gameplay, this was one of the best. The intro was great (but it went on a bit too long) and it set up the story really nicely. Music and graphics gave it a great atmosphere and fit the game perfectly. The game itself was pretty fun and the gameplay felt solid but it was also too slow paced and there wasn’t really anything to do. Game ended when I died and couldn’t continue.

Dinoman by: the ch8t

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 44/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 72/100

The game was fun but got repetitive after a few dozen levels. The game didn’t really get any harder unless you got hit. Making the game more annoying was an interesting alternative to a health meter and it worked to an extent. I think the game was well made overall but it could really use a bit more variety and the menu could be a bit cleaner as I didn’t even realize there were any options other than starting the game.

Dino Smash by: H3lli0n

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 39/60

- Graphics: 9/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 3/10

- Total: 51/100

The game was decent enough but not very exciting. I liked how you tried to add some variety with different dinosaurs and abilities but it just wasn’t enough to keep things interesting. Adding music and sound effects would definitively help, as would messing around with the abilities (instead of just spawning enemies, why not spawn hunters to help you or a huge meteorite instead of just clearing the board?) Also, the seemingly only way to end the game is to tab out of it and forcibly shut it down, which is kind of inconvenient.

Dinosplore by: Shadow Lancer

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 49/60

- Graphics: 19/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 80/100

This was a very charming and calming game. It was on the verge of growing dull but the varied landscape and the coin compass let it stay just fresh enough to still be enjoyable. There was some serious cuteness to that dinosaur and graphics were great overall, though I’d have liked a little more impact from collecting coins than them slowly fading away (sometimes I’d go back just to make sure I actually collected them).

Dino Time by: Xor

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 40/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 6/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 69/100

At first I thought the game would be dull when I saw the boring menu screen but the game itself was pretty fun to play. I found the controls to be a bit uncomfortable, especially having to drag around the mouse to position the camera but they worked. The 3D otherwise worked just fine and the game felt dynamic and rather polished. However, the meteor gimmick didn’t work at all in my opinion as you couldn’t really avoid them when they came and they could easily nail you to the ground and hit you several times in a row. Since there were no way to see the them coming there was no skill to it and the game became a challenge to collect as many gems as possible before you died, not before you failed. Also, the music was really catchy!

DragonMen by: Boysano

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 33/60

- Graphics: 13/20

- Audio: 6/10

- Bonus: 3/10

- Total: 55/100

First of all, this game is really, really slow! The gravity on those projectiles makes me think the air’s made of syrup or something. Especially since the projectiles don’t really leave that much of a mark and hitting the opponent requires a lot of trial and error, which drags on. There were some monsters and stuff scattered across the map which was pretty fun but they’re gone in a turn or two which leaves the players with an empty and barren place to fight on. Kudos for the pets, those were an interesting idea and I haven’t seen too many games in the jam use pets. It’s just a shame they can’t shoot anywhere but down below them as that makes them more or less useless on the battlefield.

Eater Eater by: theonewhoisodd

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 17/60

- Graphics: 12/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 3/10

- Total: 32/100

After having pressed every button on the keyboard and clicking everywhere I was just about to quit the game when I realized you could damage the dinosaur by clicking on it. By the looks of it, this is a cookie clicker kind of game but it would seem it is one without any upgrades (at least I couldn’t get any) and so it soon got incredibly tedious and boring. I think the idea was fun but there need to be more gameplay to back up that idea!

Everybodys Gone to the Raptor by: Jobos Jam Juggernauts

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 36/60

- Graphics: 12/20

- Audio: 5/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 60/100

I know this game was made by a lot of people, unfortunately that kind of shows in a bad way. The game plays nicely and the body part health system was interesting but the difficulty doesn’t rise enough and while the first few seconds have very varied environments you’re soon stuck in the same area without any changes to anything. The graphics are a bit of a mess too; the individual images and animations look great but they use at least three different art styles which looks weird. On top of that, everything but the player is super-blurry when you run which makes it tiring to look at. I’d also recommend displaying the score as you run as well as indicating when the game starts because it’s easily confusing when the guy suddenly stops running after the cut-scene ends. Also, great pet usage!

EXTINCTION by: Sirham

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 36/60

- Graphics: 13/20

- Audio: 4/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 57/100

It shows that the game was made in a short time; it’s not bad, but it’s lacking polish. The biggest issue is the lack of signifiers, showing what can be used against which enemy. I did learn it after a while but it was very confusing in the beginning. The game felt like a puzzle game where you’d have to manage resources in order to kill all dinosaurs but in reality it was more of a speed test than a logic challenge.

Ghost Hunt by: Chaosmore

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 39/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 4/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 61/100

It took me a few minutes to realize that I could walk. The game was pretty nice, a bit spooky and rather challenging. It felt a bit slow paced and not very rewarding since you couldn’t really progress, only survive a bit longer before your inevitable fall. Graphics were neat and atmospheric but there could be some more special effects, like killed enemies exploding or ejected shells from reloading.

Gods Laboratory by: ghandpivot

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 57/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 10/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 87/100

I don’t really buy the evolution theory and I think the game could have done more to fit the theme in that regard, but it is a solid and well-built game with good level variation and smooth gameplay. The background and environment is a bit plain and could be livelier methinks and some small details (like notifying whether the water is flowing or not, or even better: resetting when there’s no water left) could be improved. Music is great and the overall presentation is really great.

Grandpa And The Dinosaurs by: Detective Pixel

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 46/60

- Graphics: 20/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 73/100

The game looked amazing and the gameplay was smooth. I just wish there was more of it! I think the gameplay suffered a bit from the constant interruption by the storytelling even though the storytelling itself wasn’t bad. The idea to let the player lose progression rather than progress was interesting but it felt a bit too punishing, especially with the slippery physics and the endings were a bit sudden and anticlimactic.

Hams Joke Game by Sirham

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 28/60

- Graphics: 10/20

- Audio: 3/10

- Bonus: 0/10

- Total: 41/100

As a joke game this was pretty funny but as a game it was a joke (pun intended indeed). Not very hard, not much to do and graphics were a bit of a mess. The voice-over was weird!

High Tops Rampage by: DiligentDodo

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 36/60

- Graphics: 10/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 56/100

I think the game was pretty good but the slippery controls and punishing gameplay was frustrating. The two later levels were especially painful as I didn’t know how to score points and once I learned I often lost as many points as I gained. This meant that I had to stay on those levels way longer than I’d have liked and the game started feeling repetitive. While the graphics were decent they weren’t that great and felt a bit mashed together. The music on the other hand, was spot on and lifted the entire experience.

Ink Cipher by: NAL

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 48/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 79/100

I had problems finding the words but it worked out after I realized the game picked new default letters every time you started a puzzle. Eventually I had enough starting letters to manage well enough and at times I even got a great feeling of satisfaction when I came up with a long word that worked. This is definitely not a game for everyone but it’s certainly well-made and the use of handicap is definitely one of the best I’ve seen in the jam.

Jam Jumper by: Mercerenies

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 42/60

- Graphics: 14/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 58/100

The game started off a bit slow and got really hard eventually but because it took quite some time, I didn’t feel like trying again after I finally lost. I couldn’t tell if the game was meant to be slow or if I had some lag when playing. It was fun to try and save all members (sorry Diptoman!) but the novelty soon wore off.

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal by Misu

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 46/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 67/100

The game felt pretty standard for better or worse. It was fairly entertaining and there were a lot of variation to the levels with new mechanics introduced often. I think the idea to remove part of the screen was interesting but at the same time it made some levels near impossible to beat because you didn’t know how they looked (because half of the screen was covered in darkness from earlier levels). It’d be more fair to the player if they could see the next level, either as a preview or remove the spots when the level changes.

Jesus VS Cat by: CB Productions

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 13/60

- Graphics: 6/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 0/10

- Total: 19/100

For a game to be a game it needs a win state and a lose state. This game has neither! I can’t see what to do so I ended up walking in circles (much like the cats) for a while until I got bored and quit. The game could easily become something with as little effort as adding a goal in the maze. It wouldn’t be very interesting but it’d be better than nothing.

Make Way For Sid by: nivarthiakhil

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 47/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 5/10

- Bonus: 0/10

- Total: 67/100

This was a short and simple game that didn’t really stand out in any way and there is nothing wrong with that. It was pretty entertaining and I haven’t seen anything quite like it before. Everything was well made and mechanics worked fine (though some bugs did occur). I think the game would have benefited from having a few more levels, some music and a bit more polished graphics. You might also want to adjust the camera/scrolling because it was a bit tricky to hit some of the bars with the mouse. Oh, and the tutorial in the menu was really clever.

Mammoth Revolution by: Greenblizzard

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 53/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 87/100

The game had a high level of polish and was very well-made. Rolling around felt great and was really fun. I think the game was pretty well balanced, if a tiny bit repetitive. It was also pretty confusing when the pterodactyl flew off the first time because I thought it was a bug and didn’t notice the kill requirement of the cavemen had increased.

Mother Pterodactyl by: Assassin7

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 33/60

- Graphics: 12/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 49/100

It took about a minute before I realized there was more to the game than flying up and down and that you could actually fly forward. I would suggest adding something to indicate that there’s something up ahead. The game was a bit short and felt rather generic with bland graphics and no sounds. It played fine but didn’t really stand out in any way.

Neanderthals by: HayManMarc

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 11/60

- Graphics: 14/20

- Audio: 6/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 33/100

The game looks great and it looks fun to play. But it isn’t a game, it’s only a simulation and that sucks because I really wanted to play. I suggest implementing some actual controls before focusing on more fanciness like rain and a mini map.

Oldworld Babes Bordel by: Teroil

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 46/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 74/100

The game was well made and the presentation was great. The sound effects when you picked up a bone were hilarious and I tried my best to collect all of them. Unfortunately, this drove me to the point of almost rage-quitting when I had to restart some levels over and over again. Did the game use the handicap? No, no and no! J

Oviraptor by: Blake

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 50/60

- Graphics: 19/20

- Audio: 10/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 86/100

This game felt really polished and well-made. The graphics and sounds were all great and the game mechanics were super solid. My only complaint was the lack of progression; when you beat a level, the next one was pretty much all the same. I’d have liked some more variety with new enemies (a wandering t-rex or other nests guarded by several slow moving dinos, etc.) and perhaps some other environments too. I also think it’d have been fairer to have some way to regenerate health as early mistakes could be costly later on.

Prehistoric Arena by: MrBear91 And mAnlk800

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 34/60

- Graphics: 14/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 53/100

The game looked great at first but the gameplay was underwhelming and I soon got bored of it. The game is way too slow-paced and there’s too much downtime between enemy waves as it could take several seconds of silent waiting until new enemies spawned. I think it’d be better to spawn enemies one at a time but more frequently, even before the previous one was defeated in order to rebalance the game and reduce the downtime. It would also feel much more action packed if the player’s attack rate was tripled (even if you reduce the damage accordingly) and the speed of projectiles needs to be drastically increased (right now you can walk past a rock you throw). I also encountered a bug where enemies spawned inside each other and couldn’t move into view.

Prehistoric Rescue Ranger by: Mortalo

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 33/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 53/100

This game felt pretty basic with simple mechanics and a fun concept. It looked great but when the screen started scrolling it turned into a blurry mess that was hard to look at. I don’t know why this happens but it’s unfortunate. The levels started of good but soon became unfair when I had to guess which direction to go to avoid obstacles that hadn’t appeared on the screen yet and impossible when all lanes could be blocked at the same time. I’d suggest test playing the game a bit more next time to make sure that the difficulty is properly balanced.

PreRun by: Forester

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 44/60

- Graphics: 12/20

- Audio: 7/10

- Bonus: 4/10

- Total: 67/100

It’s funny how online highscore can improve an otherwise generic feeling game. I think the gameplay was fine, though the gems had a tendency to spawn in unfair locations and the handicap was used in a great way. While the menu looked nice the in game graphics were pretty generic and dull. Also, the super generic message boxes were a bit meh.

Ptero Hunt by: PizzaBoy

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 41/60

- Graphics: 16/20

- Audio: 4/10

- Bonus: 2/10

- Total: 63/100

For a game made in less than two hours, this game was good. It felt very polished and the messages when you “accidentially” hit a pet were a nice touch. My biggest complaint with the game was the lack of progression as, eventually, collecting cats wasn’t interesting enough to keep me playing.

ROB THE MUSEUM by: SilverSteeples and Zedmonkey

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 25/60

- Graphics: 11/20

- Audio: 4/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 46/100

The game used an interesting concept but it was somewhat unbalanced and buggy which quickly made it boring. The fact that you could place a dog on top of the thief as soon as you had the money and practically end the round more or less broke the game, especially since you started in the same place, moved slowly and probably took some time (enough to afford a dog) when swapping positions. I really liked the idea of buying security and using power-ups in order to avoid them so it’s a shame it didn’t work better. The game also didn’t seem to have an end state and didn’t end when the last artifact was stolen.

Solars Pet Sandbox by: Nocturnal knight

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 22/60

- Graphics: 13/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 40/100

This game felt buggy and broken or at least heavily unfinished. There was a great idea but it was severely lacking in gameplay as there really wasn’t much you could do and half of the functions weren’t implemented. I think part of the problem is that the game acted like the functions existed and asked me to build impossible planets, which was frustrating and disappointing. Perhaps you should consider a smaller scope next time?

Stick and Stone by Mercerenies and Hizopellagio

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 53/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 6/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 84/100

While not flawless, I really liked this game. It felt very complete and I loved the amount of content. It was a bit repetitive, especially if you didn’t get all the stronger weapons and battles turned into a spam-click fest. Was it a bug that you couldn’t die? Because it felt like one. The handicap use was interesting but didn’t see much use as you wouldn’t get very hurt near npc:s. The theme use was somewhat well implemented, though a few things felt a bit modern for that setting. Also, the faces of those two happily smiling people discussing the end of the world didn’t really match their words.

Stone Trek by: Squarebit and Aamatniekss

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 53/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 6/10

- Bonus: 9/10

- Total: 86/100

I really liked this game! It was polished, had great writing and was just long and varied enough not to feel boring. My biggest gripe with it was that it didn’t convey information in a satisfying way. There were a lot of numbers and stats but no way to know what those stats were or what they did. Similarly, it was impossible to tell whether an enemy was dangerous or easy to kill (heck, I never understood if there was even a point in fighting enemies in the first place). Lastly, I’d really have liked to have a mini map of some kind to tell how far I’ve gotten and how much further I’d have to go.

Survive and Tribe by: The M

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 55/60

- Graphics: 17/20

- Audio: 9/10

- Bonus: 7/10

- Total: 88/100

I had a blast making this game and I think it turned out really well. The AI works fairly well, though it has trouble navigating some areas. Then again, you don’t notice it too much thanks to the hectic and chaotic gameplay. The game feels smooth and the visuals are allright (the first level is a bit bland, though). At least they’re consistent and there’s a lot of stuff flying around. I’d have liked to have at least one more level in it as I think it ends too soon! Funny how this game (completely by chance?) got the highest rating of them all.

The Dark by: dadio

Spoiler

Hmm… All I see is the game’s name tiled across the screen with a weird gradient sticking in somewhere too. Nothing I do seem to have any effect so I think it’s sure to say the game doesn’t work. At least not for me.

Time Stranded by: trg601 and moon489

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 35/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 7/10

- Bonus: 5/10

- Total: 62/100

Somehow, the game felt very polished but also lacking polish at the same time. In fact, everything but the gameplay was done really well! Unfortunately, that part’s pretty important and it made the game rather boring. I had two main issues with the game; the aim is way so and it’s really hard to hit the enemies and, secondly, the difficulty is cranked up far too high. I’ve had a dinosaur almost kill me unless I ran as soon as the game started! Because they’re faster than you are, they have more health and there’re so many of them, it feels unfair and that’s no fun.

Trilobytes by: RekNepZ

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 20/60

- Graphics: 12/20

- Audio: 0/10

- Bonus: 3/10

- Total: 35/100

As a simulation this was a bit interesting at first but the lack of interaction (or gameplay if you prefer) soon made it pretty boring as there really wasn’t anything to do with it. The statistics were cool but it was a bit tricky to click on the faster trilobytes.

Volve by: Intoxicatious

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 48/60

- Graphics: 19/20

- Audio: 4/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 77/100

It was a polished and solid game with great graphics and smooth gameplay. It was also a very slow-paced game and I almost quit at several points as the bigger you grew, the slower the game crawled until it ended with that very anticlimactic ending. I also think forcing the player to restart the game if they fail isn’t that good an idea and it doesn’t really work for the handicap since that could be a whole lot of progress lost and could really be rage inducing. The use of theme on the other hand, was great and the whole game was very thematic.

Wac A Mammal by: Nocturne

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 44/60

- Graphics: 18/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 76/100

While whack-a-mole isn’t very exciting, this was one of the better versions of it. The visual presentation was great and the overall progression felt good. I didn’t like the hitbox on the animals as I often clicked just outside the valid spot, even though more than half of the creature was covered by the tail afterwards. In the end my hand was pretty tired so one playthrough was more than enough. Also, the music bore through my skull after a few loops. It gave the game a sense of frantic panic which suited it well, but at the price of some sanity.

Your Fault by: Yal and TsukaYuriko

Spoiler

- Gameplay: 50/60

- Graphics: 15/20

- Audio: 8/10

- Bonus: 6/10

- Total: 79/100

This game is the stuff of nightmares, more so than dadio’s crazy game. The game mechanics felt solid and the levels were clever. The use of handicap was one of the best in the jam, though the theme usage was a bit meh. There was one place where the game failed, though; the combination of frantic and unforgiving. This is a puzzle game but with the strict time limit there was little time to think through a solution and mistakes could easily be made which more often than not resulted in failing the entire level. Combined with not having any explanation on how to play or what things were (it took two levels before I understood that the orbs were laser controlled switches) the game felt unfair.

Comment:Nice graphics! I liked the dialog and weapon system (though I wish there was a little less dialog and more gameplay).Sounds gave the game a nice feel. Overall great job!

I also reviewed the reviewers. The purpose of this is not to shame anyone, but rather, like any review, to help correct any issues. All reviews are, however, beneficial to the jam because of the mixed opinions of each reviewer so all of them were at least decent.If you don't want correction then ignore this. If not, here they are:17 Reviewers (excluding myself) [updated 11/14/15]:​

Spoiler

ghandpivot [20/30]

Spoiler

Balance 8/10Kindness 6/10Detail 6/10

Comment:Nice short and concise reviews. I thought they were pretty fair and kind. They could have been longer, but I thought they were good.

Lindion45 [25/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 9/10Kindness 7/10Detail 9/10

Comment:One of the most statistical and detailed reviewers. I loved the info and pictures. Great reviews!

DiligentDodo [18/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 6/10Kindness 6/10Detail 6/10

Comment:The reviews depended upon unrequired jam ideas like the use of the hype object and devlog. You don't need to do either and I don't think they should be a big part of the overall review.Also key points like gameplay or graphics had almost no affect on the review.

GameDevDan [21/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 7/10Kindness 8/10Detail 6/10

Comment:The reviews somehow seemed nice even when you were dissing an aspect of a game. I liked how the reviews seemed more fluid with scale of 0 to 100.

Panzergeist [19/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 4/10Kindness 7/10Detail 8/10

Comment:One review. Not much to say here, but I'll change this if you review more games.

SilverSteeples [24/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 8/10Detail 8/10

Comment:Cool reviews with a lot of detail. They all seemed pretty fair. I liked the fact that it was mere opinion rather than a bunch of statisics.

C.B Productions [19/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 6/10Kindness 9/10Detail 4/10

Comment:Though the reviews were short and not very descriptive, they served there purpose well by being heart felt opinion and simply a vote.

nvrogers [25/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 7/10Detail 10 /10

Comment:The longest reviews so far! Very descriptive and fair.

TerraFriedSheep [20/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 6/10Detail 6/10

Comment:These reviews were good, but did seem to lack a little in detail. Overall decent.

theonewhoisodd [21/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 7/10Kindness 6/10Detail 8/10

Comment:Nice descriptive reviews. I wish, however, that you reviewed more about the game aspects than theme, handicap and hype object. Those shouldn't be the biggest factor.Especially since the hype object is not a requirement.

Nallebeorn [20/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 5/10Detail 7/10

Comment:Kind of blunt, but fairly detailed. Not much else to say.

NightOwl35 [22/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 7/10Detail 7/10

Comment:Nice quick reviews of all the games. The seemed fair and consistent.

Detective Pixel [21/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 8/10Detail 5/10

Comment:The reviews were short but you got a lot of games reviewed in an organized and nice format. Good job!

Sammi3 [20/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 6/10Detail 6/10

Comment:Nice short reviews. I would say they were above average though!

mr magnus [21/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 7/10Kindness 7/10Detail 7/10

Comment:A nice amount of info taken in to account and yet also concise. I liked them.

RekNepZ [19/20]

Spoiler

Fairness 7/10Kindness 7/10Detail 5/10

Comment:The minimum detail was a little irritating, but it was fair and kind. Descent reviews in my opinion.

Mercerenies [22/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 8/10Kindness 8/10Detail 6/10

Comment:Fairly concise and clean. Seemed to hit right in between too long of a review and too short. Nice job!

Xor(myself) [20/30]

Spoiler

Fairness 7/10Kindness 6/10Detail 7/10

Comment:I gotta try harder to stay consistent and I should be less blunt. The reviews are also too short (may change that now).

([1)] This game is solidly made. The mechanics are great and add to the game a little. The gameplay is just right. The story segments are skip able but not worth skipping. The art is more than good-enough and never looked ugly or messy. The battle grounds had imagination put into them. Even the music is great.

([2)] This game blew me away in how advanced it is; the attention put into the mechanics really shows! The opening scene is great but a pain if you replay the game. The graphics are stylized but the models need work. The gameplay is fun and really keeps the player's attention but it gets repetitive. The music is fine. The use of the mammoth as a ball is creative!

([3)] It started out seemingly like a game that looks good but plays bad but with a lot of retries, the game gets better and better and the mechanics were well tuned to keep the player on his/her toes while still not being too unfair. The music was nice but didn't fit.

Things to know about my reviews (this changes every time):

Spoiler

-I score games with high expectations so a medium score isn't as bad as you might think

-Because I don't have time to review all the games, I only take requests.

-I might give out ribbons for those who do really good in a subject, really bad, or for standing out in a notable way.

-I'll try to finish your game and I'll say so if I don't.

-Games larger than 1100 wide or 750 pixels tall (without fullscreen mode or the ability to resize the screen) with have half a point or less docked from my reviews and it even loss you favor when I'm deciding my votes. This is because it makes your game almost unplayable for people with small monitors.

-If I seem a little harsh in my reviews, know that I'm doing it for constructive criticism purposes.

---------------------------------------------

---- - My Requested Reviews - ----

---------------------------------------------

ghandpivot - God's Laboratory

Spoiler

Opening- A puzzle game is a smart choice in a jam. A puzzle game can fit any theme to a degree and will have a clear path to good gameplay. The road to a successful jam game is much, much tougher than picking the right genre though. Unity within the different aspects will always be important. Too many jam games have passed that gave me mixed feelings, sadly this is another.

Creativity/story- What is great about the puzzle genre is that the developer has to stop and think to make the game and great things come of people stopping and thinking. Before I can judge the creativity, I need to bring up a game called Ed Edd and Eddy's Candy Machine. I could mention how similar the two games are but more importantly, this represents to me what can be done when you only stop and think. In Candy Machine, the main difference is the imagination poured into the design of the tubes. After playing something like that, I can't help but feel like this game's empty design falls flat; the tubes visually need to express more than the basic function they serve. A minor story-through-action is there. The world develops on the name of the game well in an imaginative way (if only everything did that just as well). 0.6/1

Gameplay- This is based off my personal experience so if anyone disagrees with me on this section, wonderful. Majority of the puzzles were the right difficulty. When a level was too easy, it was partially because trial and error made it so. When it was too hard, I was still able to beat it in a fairly reasonable time. Some variety of difficulty is good, this game has slightly too much though.Truly the main thing preventing a higher grade here is the lack of variety. I felt the game could have benefited from having one more thing adding to the complexity of the puzzles later on in the game. The length was neither way too short nor way too long for a game made in this time frame; a little bit longer would have been fine. Over all, a mildly enjoyable and engaging experience. 3.7/4.2

Sound/feel- I really liked the only song in the game, but that doesn't mean it was fitting. What good is having a catch song if it skews the atmosphere of the game? The sound effects were great though. There were many of them, they worked well, and there was even a quiet one for when the water flowed! It is easy to look over how well picked the sound effects were. The atmosphere was halfway intact and had a feeling that fit right with the excitement of creating life through clever problem thinking. 1.4/1.8

Graphics- Foremost, visuals need to show what something does, yet the tubes didn't do that correctly. There is a learning curve to the game due to the graphics not doing the leftover job of helping the player understand the mechanics. Secondly, the visuals don't add to the game. I feel like they are only there because they need to be, with the exception of the rad animations (I loved the animations when the right amount of water filled the different things, including the sponge). 0.9/2

Mechanics/interface- I don't have much to say about the mechanics; they were fairly simple but worked great. There were one or two mechanics that made the game more convenient to play which is good. There was no interface and one menu.There were also word screens that never lasted too long or too short. The start menu really needed more. The page up and down was a nice touch, 0.7/1

Theme/handicap- Look, you and I both know you could have made this game under almost any theme and simply made tiny tweaks. I saw no handicap. [[ bonus: -0.2 ]]

Conclusion- This felt like the typical jam game: it had bland visuals, fair gameplay, and a catchy song that didn't quite fit. I'll give you this though, the game is very complete, had great sound effects, great mechanics, a good choice for the controls, and puzzles with the right amount of difficulty. I recommend this to any puzzle fans, as long as they play Ed Edd and Eddy's Candy Machine game afterwards. I do not recommend this game to anyone with a small screen.

[[ game window was too tall: -0.2]]

6.9/10 Typical (The Good Kind)

Jobo's Juggernauts - Everybody's Gone to the Raptor

Spoiler

Opening- I set aside time of my day to review this thinking it would take a long time to review; it won't. Something you learn as a reviewer is that various people will make the same aggravating mistakes, yet I'm always surprised by how diverse the mistakes can be other times. I didn't beat this game by a long shot, though I doubt there is an end.

Creativity/story- Straight out of Jurassic world, there is an opening cutscene that shows a raptor-trainer instructing raptors to do an entertaining act. Suddenly the raptors don't listen and start chasing the player and the game instantly starts without any notice. The rest of the game is the player running for his life. Look, I get it, making references to pop culture and having a silly premise is fine; that isn't the problem. The actual problem is twofold. One: The reference is way too similar to the movie (a movie that I was very disappointed in but I digress). Two: If you set up a world based off of another work, then the same in-universe rules apply. That means the player expects a world that doesn't have pitfalls, constant meteors and erupting volcanoes or they will feel like something is off. The performance the raptors were doing at the start was actually mildly creative but the game went down hill from there (metaphorically; literally the game went down a straight and boring path). 0.2/1

Gameplay- Run, jump, miraculously roll backwards several feet, crouch, repeat; this is a runner game, an awful runner. It is almost impossible to tell you how it plays without mentioning how it is crippled by the mechanics so I'll just sum up the gameplay in three words and move on: "bland and cruel." 0.6/4.2

Sound/feel- Do you think deep-pitched xylophone music fit an atmosphere of danger and terror? I sure don't. There are two songs in the game and the complement each other well but not the rest of the game. There are a small number of sound effects and they not bad. The whole universe is just made up of stereotypes of dinosaurs, neanderthals, and the events that we associate with them but felt neither accurate nor inaccurate for good a reason. The graphics hindered the atmosphere of the game even further. 0.6/1.8

Graphics- ...And speaking of graphics, they not only sucked but lacked unity in quality style. The backgrounds just change at a vertical line into new settings instantly which is a huge no-no. Half the graphics are overly-zoomed in pixel art; the other half are nice blurry textures or sloppy colored doodles. To be fair, the animation of the guy looking backwards and getting bug-eyed was a great addition. Don't be inconstant with video game visuals, ever. It is astounding how unprofessional the game looks. 0.5/2

Mechanics/interface- May I count the ways? Long unskippable cutscenes are bad, but long unskippable cutscene that you have to see every time the player dies is a hundred times worse. Without exception, there ought to be a menu at the start of any game. The roll-back mechanic needs to be strongly tweaked. The controls for jump and crouch are not what the game tells the player. This isn't the early 80s; arcade-like games ought always let the player replay the game rather than kick the player out. The parallax background moves to quick for how far away it is. Text ought never overlap and become unreadable as a result. The game over font is ugly. Hey, at least the game is functional. 0.2/1

Theme/handicap- You get no points for this sorry excuse or a theme and handicap. Funny enough, I don't count volcanoes eruptions to be prehistoric, because they are accurately determined by scientist. The use of dinosaurs and circus performers feels more like science fiction than prehistoric too. Most importantly, the whole thing feels like a cesspool of stereotypes and misconceptions of prehistoric times. The handicap is an animation and nothing more, which feels like a misunderstanding of how integrated and influential the handicap should be. [[ bonus: +-0.0 ]]

Conclusion- There comes a point when a game is so bad that it is completely not worth playing, even if it tries to be silly or nonchalant. There is a correct way to make a short, small, fun, non-serious jam game but this fails at pulling that off. Most everything, even the level design, was needing improvement. I do not recommend this game to anyone. By the way, rotating a pixelated sprite looks awkward and unprofessional no matter if your game was made in 72 hours or is Nuclear Throne.

2.1/10 Dinosaur Dung

Dadio - Da Numskulz

Spoiler

Opening- When I opened and immediately closed this game at my school library, I thought it was going to be another bad joke game. After playing it till I reached a score of 501, I realized this was much better than I thought it would be and it makes me wish I someday learn to never judge a book by its cover.

Creativity/story- The num skulz are here and want to take over. They thrive in a hallucinogenic cave but refuse to be opposed there. With their militaristic organized hordes, they sing their battle cry at you, the only one in their way. You enter the cave knowing nothing, fearing all you see. They begin to mess with your mind and send mushrooms your way. You don't fight back; maybe you are paralyzed by the dramatic terror before you, maybe you refuse to harms these creatures. Either way, your demise is inescapable. It is amazing how much story something simple can properly portray. The problem is, nothing new ever happens and the song repeats before you know it.What is there is great, but it could use a little more even as a tiny game. Creativity shines through by the choice of video and the way the mushrooms flow elegantly towards you. There isn't any opportunity to be creative within the frame of the tiny game beyond that. 0.8/1

Gameplay- Extreme simplicity isn't necessarily bad and I get reminded of this time and time again. This is a game in which you click incoming mushrooms before they touch you, that's it. It is a good premise for a small game meant to be replayed but it lacks a lot of what is needed to retain the player. The difficulty either doesn't increase or increases way too slowly and that causes the game to get boring fast. Additionally, the game has zero variation, not even multiple sprites for the mushrooms. I would argue the game is too easy; the game takes effort to play but never delivers the urgency the background and music set up. 2.0/4.2

Sound/feel- The atmosphere had so much potential, and while it didn't live up to the potential, it did an okay job. The video with the cave changing light to match the video was great together and the music felt just right and catch! I already stated the flaw; the easy difficulty and trivial gameplay conflicted with the Invader-Zim-esque atmosphere. The sound effects were cute. You did the player a huge service by not giving the clickable mushrooms a sound effect which would have made the game too annoying to play. I would complain about the repetitive song but it is catchy and the repetitiveness actually sorta worked with the inevitable ending. 1.6/1.8

Graphics- Well... The art of the cave looks alright and it fits score font and hearts. The video goes well with the mushrooms; There is a duel unity of art in this game which is much better than no unity at all but still imperfect as a result. The heart needed more work put into it and the cave could too to a lesser extent. 0.9/2

Mechanics/interface- The opening screen was a little confusing; I didn't realize I needed to click the words specifically. The mechanics of the game are just barely passable and leave much to be desired. In all fairness, this game doesn't need too many mechanics but that is no excuse for having such bare bones mechanics. Their needs to be complexity. 0.5/1

Theme/handicap- Is there a handicap? I neither saw a handicap nor the theme here. I understand why though. This is a game that is best not changed for the sake of a theme. [[ bonus: -0.2 ]]

Conclusion- I have no strong grievance with this game and I am somewhat glad I played it, even if I don't see myself playing it again. This feels like a much better example of a less serious game that is made in haste. It delivers a specific experience in a semi-fun way. I honestly recommend this game to the average person. There are a few people this game isn't fit for but none of those people are people who would come across this review. This is a game that achieves what it sets out to and nothing more and that is fine by me.

5.6/10 Passion in a Humble Game

I plan to do a video play-through of one or two jam games so if you don't want your game filmed then please contact me.

Two and a half years of game development taught me the joy of making something unique and unconventional. It is not good enough to make a game fun when there are way too many other freeware games that make fun their selling point.

Review for Everybody's Gone To The Raptor by Jobo's Jam JuggernautsFirst Impression: ½/1 Mixed. I'd expected a title screen or something, and an option about how to skip the intro, and the way the controls are described is counterintuitive (group left/right together instead!). Also the graphical claaaaaaaaaaaaaaassh. Liking the story, though.Graphics: 1/3 A complete mess with different art styles, pixel sizes, and black text that doesn't stand out properly from the background. The caveman graphics are really good, though, and I loved his facial expressions and stuff, giving you a saving grace 1 pt :3Audio: 2/3 Nice music and voice acting! Missing sound effects from interacting with hazards, sliding and so on, though.Gameplay: 1/3 A nice endless runner, but it has some flaws. The forced rolling after a jump takes away control from you and feels bad, and I'd like to see that cancelable into another jump or a slide. Also, I somehow ended up BEHIND the raptors due to a fall and had to run into them from behind.Restrictions: 2/4 Both used. Nothing too interesting is done with the prehistoric theme or the handicap, though.Lasting Impression: 0/1 Press Esc to quit? But how do I RESTART and play again? Meh, screw it.Final Score: 6½/15 probably not worth playing until it's had its bugs fixed.

Review for Dino Die by NallebeornFirst Impression: 1/1 Lol, Graphics: 1/3 Pixel art on a JPEG with different pixel size.Audio: 2/3 Functional and sort of OK, and the music distorts as you lose health.Gameplay: 0/3 The way the window shrinks as you lose health means that it just gets harder to avoid more meteors, leading to a vicious circle. Unless you have the mouse cursor on the part that gets removed, which lets you take the dino out of bounds and rendering the game unloseable. You also don't even get a highscore table on game over, which kinda makes the game pointless.Restrictions: 3/4 You lose the game as you lose the game, but you can still keep playing! I like this handicap interpretation. The theme is used but not in an integral way for the game.Lasting Impression: 0/1 'pop'Final Score: 7/15 Fun idea that ends up feeling kinda pointless.

Review for Dino Delivery by lxlegrawFirst Impression: 0/1 Looks and sounds sweet! Just move and jump and discard, huh? ...how do I switch to the other dinos? What are the speech bubbles for? WHat is the combo for?Graphics: 3/3 Nice and coherent pixel art!Audio: 3/3 Nice and coherent audio!Gameplay: 0/3 Not explaining the primary gameplay mechanic is a very bad idea, and I don't think I'd figured it out if it wasn't for the game name. Also, moving around is cumbersome since many platforms are arranged in a way that screws with you, making you lose time and thus combos.Restrictions: 1/4 Theme is used, and since failure resets your combo there is no handicap usage.Lasting Impression: 0/1 Fun idea, good execution, but the gameplay works against it due to the level design and how goals aren't explained before you start playing.Final Score: 7/15 Mixed execution of an interesting idea.

Review for Dino Time by XorFirst Impression: 0/1 Black text on a gray background? DefauuuuuuuuuuuuultGraphics: 2/3 Not that impressive by 3D standards, but given the timeframe of the jam they look pretty cool. (The trees are anachronistic AFAIK since palm trees and fern were dominant in the dino days, and those could probably be easier to model as well)Audio: 1½/3 Nice BGM track, but it doesn't quite fit the mood once meteors start falling and it lacks sound effects. Warnings for falling meteors would be MUCH appreciated.Gameplay: 0/3 You fly around collecting jewels to boost your score. After a while, meteors start falling without warning and so quickly you can't avoid them, which means you WILL get hit by pure bad luck and game over. The world is randomly generated but doesn't really have much variety to it, which means you won't even notice how big it is. I felt like I was going downhill all the time but never made it to a beach, which i'd expected.Restrictions: 1/4 Dinosaurs! The jewels don't make much sense, and I feel the trees are too modern too. Failure results in having to start the game over so the handicap isn't put to use.Lasting Impression: 0/1 Not that fun, just technically impressive.Final Score: 4½/15 Mainly lacks in gameplay.

Review for DragonMen by BoysanoFirst Impression: 0/1 BUILT IN PARTICLE EFEEEEEEEEEEEEECTSSSSSSGraphics: 0/3 Clashing ridiculously with each other. The game probably would've looked better if you'd drawn all graphics yourself.Audio: 1½/3 Decent enough soundtrack, functional sound effects.Gameplay: 0/3 First of all, it's a 2P only game, which ruins the fun of playing it while alone. Secondly, it's incredibly slow paced - the framerate feels like it's lagging at half the usual speed, 30 fps instead of 60 - and there are delays before the turns shift and so on. This makes playing feel like a chore. Finally, the collision detection with the destructible terrain is too sensitive - I sent shots into what I thought was free space on several times, only to have them randomly explode. And speaking of that, the explosion radius is very small and means it takes ages to make a hole between you and your opponent.Restrictions: 0/4 Most token theme use so far, and dying means you lose the round.Lasting Impression: 0/1 I'm having trouble writing this review without falling asleep, and that's usually not a good sign...Final Score: 0/15 - A worms clone that is like opening a can of worms.

2

- The above is my personal opinion and in no way representative of Yoyogames or the GMC, except when explicitly stated -

Games I've elected not to score:Your Fault by Yal & Tsuka (It's 8-bit Saw my heart can't take it ;_; )

Reviews:(up to 8 now)
Fun fact: I wouldn't take these first numbers too seriously. It will likely end up more of a preliminary thing as I balance them out while getting through more of the list. As for how I treat the devlogs I view them initially as instruction manuals. If the log clears something up in the game I try to factor that.

Spoiler

Jam Jumper by Mercerenies 3/24

Spoiler

I’m not even here for 2 weeks and already I’m cast as an extra in someone's game I feel honored.

We have here a standard pachinko machine with a twist in that you don’t want any of the “balls” to slide out of the machine. The gimmick being that each of the balls take on the form of a Jam Participant allowing for an effective guilt trip on game over. That’s about all there is to it obviously a joke entrée before the main course (my randomizer gets me ).

Game Play – 0/4 Presentation – 2 /4 (I concede that it is a clean pachinko machine)Devlog: 0/4 If this thing had a Devlog I simply MUST see it!

Spoiler

Pros:

I never thought my avatar could scale so nicely.

The guilt trip at the game over was the pay off.

Cons:

It’s a mini game at best.

Oldworld: Babe's Bordel by Teroil 7/24

(Fair warning this one comes off a little harsh and I might give it another look before the 21 days are up)

Spoiler

Here we have a precision based platformer, to be honest, not my genre of choice. I love plaformers but ones with some leniency, not the I Want to be the Guy sort, and for those to work you really need to polish the platforming. In this game it felt overextended particularly when mushroom bouncing is introduced it wasn’t enough to be bouncing on them no~ I have to be on the very edge of the mushroom and hold forward to get the momentum needed to *maybe* clear jumps. Good platforming is about more than placing them on the fringes of the players jump arc. One major con I found was the lack of quitting options I had to ctrl alt delete out of this game and that should never be the case. A simple listener for the esc-key is all I ask for. If you're new to Studio like myself just remember this feature isn't automatic anymore. We have to add it in our selves. ):

The info screen flat out lied to me. You move with the arrow-keys not WASD as it would have me believe.

Use of theme: 1/4: This game stars a caveman who collects bones and that's about it. The traps I came across all looked particularly modern with steel spikes and conveyor belts. The volcanic setting factors in too but it's still not really enough to go off of. Heck I'm pretty sure those I saw some modern yellow construction beams.

Use of Handicap: 0/4 Failure sets me back a fair bit as I try (and fail) to collect bones, and they get reset on death.
Use of Pets: 0/4 The game is isolating. Not another living creature in sight.

Game Play: 3/4
Presentation: 2/4 Music and special effects (light sources, blood, lava) all nice and atmospheric. I really did feel isolated and these things where a factor in that.

Devlog: 1/4.

Cyber Dino by Exentrixz 2/20

Spoiler

A dinosaur on a skateboard? I smell a Radical Rex fan.

First I’d recommend learning about views and perspective this game’s view is so zoomed out I wouldn’t have known I was firing bullets if I hadn’t glanced at the devlog. I swear I was pressing the fire button on my first try and producing nothing. The second thing I noticed was that the score resets between each transition. Also the game freezes on death. On that note something I will always push for is that the esc-key should close the game, In the very least some in game quit feature, it was a default feature in GM8 but you have to do it yourself in Studio.

Theme: 1/4 One dinosaur out of four.
Handicap: 0/4 can’t set me any further back then freezing the game. xD
Pets: 1/4 pretty much ANY inclusion of an animal will in the very least get 1 point from me, even if it’s obviously not a pet.
Game Play: 0/4
Presentation: 0/4
Devlog: 0/4

Dino Smash by H3lli0n 12/24

Spoiler

This game, for no good reason, made me think of classic light gun/early shooter games like Battle Clash, Wild Guns and Duck Hunt. I like the core idea behind the game and would love to see someone REALLY run with a pseudo FPS concept. Also see Dadio’s Da Numskulz (if you can handle the jump scare) for the same basic idea but the enemy fires back at you, and that would make this feel more engaging. That's the thing I struggle to feel engaged with this game.

My biggest criticism is that the power-up system is poorly explained. One froze them in place, two… it wasn’t clear either also frozen them, blasted like 5 of them, or both those effects at the same time, and 3 very clearly blew them ALL up. What’s the cool down based on though? They only seemed to go on cool down after a death, and just how many bones do I need to clear a stage? Some kind of breathing room between stages would be appreciated. I haven’t commented on the lack of sound since 72 hour time constraints we all understand, but it really would help to have ears in this game. I need some more feedback then the game is currently providing to feel like anything I’m doing has consequence.

Theme: 3/4 There are tons of dinosaurs and though it’s not a creative solution to the theme it fits well.
Handicap: 1/4 I don’t feel like the handicap actually was observed. When the timer goes off you’re bounced back to stage one but it doesn’t feel like it disrupts the flow so I gave it a point… stage transitions are *that* hard to notice.
Pets: 2/4 Look at all these Dino Petstm. :D
Game Play: 1/4 More feedback through sound or visuals effects something to make it more engrossing.
Presentation: 2/4 The dinosaurs look really nice as do the menu and hub. That lack of sound and feedback in general is really hurting it though.
Devlog: 3/4 Informative, I think it’s cool this works on android, and now I know I can use the backspace-key to close the game so I don’t have to get a sticker made about that quite yet.

Prehistoric Pet Ranger by Mortalo and Ehrgeiz 11/20

Spoiler

Another game that looks like it would be right at home on mobile. Its short comings are being only 1 stage in length, though subsequent rounds get faster it’s still looks like the same level just ramped up, variety would spice this game up. Next there’s the lack of music and feedback. All these are understandable given the time constraints of course but I still got to mention them. Also I found a major out of bounds bug in the game. The game doesn’t account for people who can press two buttons at almost the same time. When I switch lanes and say I “suddenly” change my mind if I press the opposite button before I’ve finished locking into the lane I desync.

Theme: 4/4 The setup is straight out of Jurassic Park escape dinosaurs with an all-terrain vehicle. While I can reward creativity I can’t fault unoriginality.
Handicap: 2/4 Hm, failure results in a loss of…. poor fluffies. ;_; On top of that the level plays thru to the end. If you run out of flufffies it waits until the level finishes before penalizing the player. It qualifies.
Pets: 3/4 Pets are this games version of hit points.
Game Play: 1/4
Presentation: 2/4 The visuals are uniform with that flash animation-y look. Not personally a fan of that style but hey it’s visually one of the most professional looking things I’ve seen so far. Lack of sound and feedback hurt it though.
Devlog: 0/4

Black Knight by Baron_Mercury 11/24

Spoiler

I enjoyed this one more then I was expecting. Despite the initial confusion, I know it says you can move the pieces but it took a few rounds before I was really comfortable doing so, this is actually an addictive strategy game. The intro was humorous and a creative spin on prehistory. Now I would criticize the difficulty curve it feels like we start off on an intermediate difficulty when it could use a starting level or two that eases the player into the game. Is it possible to exchange a pawn for another piece? I didn’t understand how to do that if it was. Finally the game kicks you out on game over, it’s kind of the inverse of the more common issue where the game refuses to let leave.
Managed to get to the third board and that one looked devilish.

Theme: 3/4 Godlike deities shaping the primordial universe. I hear a few of the shoot ‘em ups are also doing something in that vein. This one got a laugh out of me.

Handicap: 2/4 Failure results in losing pieces of the board, but I think it’s still a powerful loss of progress. It becomes an uphill battle the more squares the player loses. Still it was a decent effort.

Pets: 0/4 Not by my definition.

Game Play: 4/4 If you're familiar with chess this gets addicting, the biggest obstacle is the players understanding of the game. With each round I could see myself experimenting and improving.

Presentation: 0/4 Presentation feels about as chaotic as the concept, factoring in the lack of sound, and the kicker for me is that the program closes itself on game over. Not to mention all these little questions left over about the game's mechanics.

Devlog: 2/4 Honestly I’m more confused after having looked at the devlog! Lol, apparently there is, or was, a mechanic to restore lost pieces of the board? If so it’s not explained at all in the final product. A shame since a mechanic like that might of served the handicap. Part of me wants to take out points for this confusion but really it just adds to some quirky trivia surrounding the game. It does hurt the presentation though if this mechanic in fact exists and isn't explained.

Devil's Symphony by nvrogers

What a wonderful ode to Touhou. Loved how the bullet patterns went off with the soundtrack. At one point I seemed to lose my hitbox while standing still and if it wasn't for that I probably never would of reached the end. ^^; It's short but then what game created in 72 hours isn't?

Theme: 0/4 Well crafted but not really in keeping with the theme.
Handicap: 1/4 I suppose progress in this game is determined by the progression of the music so death doesn't really set that back.. but the the handicap asks that "something" be lost.
Presentation: 4/4 Excellent incorporation of music with the gamplay, there's an intro to provide context. It looks good.
Gameplay: 3/4

Oviraptor by Blake

Snatch eggs – stay fed, don't get hit – stay alive. It's a simple primus and between the death clauses (starvation, and mortality), and highscore bragging rights there's just enough going on to stay engaging. Hallmarks of a quality arcade-style game.

Theme: 4/4
Handicap: 3/4 You don't drop an egg if you get hit. Failure results in hunger and vitality ticking down.
Presentation: 4/4
Gameplay: 4/4 The duo challenge of managing both hunger and life bars keeps me engaged plus there's the high score incentive.

A truly mind-numbing entry. If you're planning on playing for a long time, you'll probably have to get high first. (note: I do not actually condone getting high).

C.B Productions - Jesus VS. Cat- 08/100

Literally a maze where you can walk into jesus as a poorly-drawn cat. I'm not sure what else to say.

Yal, Tsuka Yuriko - Your Fault- 54/100

The window is way too small, would have been nice to have a resize option. The dialogue also goes on for a long time, without really explaining much of what's going on. However the gameplay seems pretty solid and bug free.

Mortalo - Prehistoric Rescue Ranger- 86/100

Excellent game! The idea is good, the execution is good, the graphics are great and it's fun to play! All it's missing is sound.

Dadio - The Dark- -38/100

Literally just a poorly tiled background in an empty room. You've outdone yourself this time Darrell. Add the score from this to your other game for a nice, round ZERO points.

Sirham - Gary and Frank's ducktastic adventure- 08/100

What a game, truly this should be 100/100 IGN's top GOTY, in fact GOTDecade!!11!!!1!one!

H3lli0n - Dino Smash- DNF

Sorry, I don't review installer games. We should make some kinda guideline for that maybe...

nivarthiakhil - Make way for Sid- 38/100

It's a nice game, well made. Can't shake the feeling that this wasn't much to do with the jam though, it doesn't fit any restrictions.

Blake - Oviraptor - 84/100

Love the premise, it's pretty difficult so I never felt "eased in" or like I accomplished anything, but the game itself is top notch.

Joh - Cave War - 68/100

I like the idea! I like card games in a jam, they're always good fun to play. I wish it felt a little more strategic though, it feels a bit random as it is.

ExtentrixZ - CyberDino - 26/100

A fairly standard platform and a good debut game, it falls short of a lot of others on fun and presentation but a good effort anyway.

Sirham - EXTINCTION - 40/100

A good idea, but there isn't much to do. Understanble since it's only 3 hours work!

Misu - Jeffrey the jurassic animal - 70/100

Once you've died a few times it becomes pointless even playing any more because of the reduced visibility. I like Karoshi style games, but not the idea of making one purely because you don't like the theme a decently made entry anyway.

trg601, moon489 - Time Stranded - 52/100

The raptors in wave 1 are too fast, they never back off and the weapon is slow. I die on wave 1 every time.

MrBear91, mAnlk800 - Prehistoric Arena - 52/100

The weapon is too slow and inaccurate and the enemies move too fast. I can never tell if I'm winning or losing when the level ends since it looks like all levels unlock automatically. Nice entry, well kept with the theme, but it has a long way to go.

Mercerenies, Hiznopellagio - Sticks and Stones - 90/100

Fantastic, it can be hard to get point and click games right but this one is genuinely interesting. I want to make my own point and click RPG now XD Brilliant graphics, great story, kept me playing to the end and I still wanted more.

I am in awe. Stunned at what this artistic genius has produced here. I feel like I have achieved a higher state of being just by playing. I am also especially impressed by just how much the Theme, Handicap & Hype object were incorporated.

Today I will be reviewing an exquisite entry, a true contribution to the Dadio industry indeed... Never before seen quality, incredible use of theme and handicap, unparalleled mechanics. This entry has most certainly, as promised, moved me to a higher plane of existence. I hadn't any idea that a piece of software could invoke such an emotional extreme. Step aside AAA titles, a new form of art is paving the path and you are too inferior to see the light. An undeniably magnificent experience. I feel privileged to have been blessed by the holy presence of this game. Replaying it, I felt as if the hand of god was gently caressing my eyes, rewarding me for revisiting this timeless classic. I have logged roughly 4000 hours into this game, despite it only being out for but a few hours. Playing this game, you will transcend the limits of time and space, and experience an existence so much more full and enlightening than the mortal pleasures of this world could ever offer. It doesn't require petty gimmicks such as "gameplay variety" or "coherence" in order to appeal to the soul, as this game alone is the most refined piece of art in the universe. God himself looks upon this masterpiece with envy in his heart. If you are reading this, abandon your aspirations and throw your dreams to the wind, for Dadio has indeed presented us with the means of our salvation. This game is all you need.

(Dadio you should totally hire me as your PR guy some time)

Pros:

-Unlimited replayabilty. Never feel like you are wasting time again as this game operates outside of the confines of time and reality.

-Award winning gameplay. All of the best features of the genre, none of that useless extra stuff.

-No DLC. That's right. Click all the things you want for no additional charge. Who doesn't like free?

-Will cure all illnesses.

-Recommended by leading dentists.

-Leaves a lasting shine for a brighter, whiter smile.

-Solves all of your problems.

-Walks your dog for you.

-Makes you money WHILE you play! Wow!

Cons:

-None, unless you are blind to the beauty of true art.

1st place - Dadio

2nd place - Dadio

3rd place - Dadio

4th place - Dadio

5th place - Dadio

I think we get the idea...

I DUB THEE WINNER OF ALL OF THE JAM (Your jam should be arriving shortly)

I have made the decision to remain impartial in terms of voting for this jam as I have not managed to play all of the games. As for what I have played, excelsior. Jolly good show everyone. <3

SILVERSTEEPLES REVEIWS

These reveiws are being made in order of the games topic, your place in the list does not mean anything, if I have not reveiwed your game yet, I have not played it Apologies to those of you who's games I cannot reveiw, my computer's about as fast as a stegosaurus with a broken leg

Hiznopellagio and Mercenaries - Stick and Stone

On the whole, I'm extremely impressed, as always Hiznopellagio brings a unique and beautiful graphic style, I enjoyed this a lot; especially the slightly steampunk twist on the characters from "the future" and the way that this is contrasted against the sight of a caveman and his grindstone - This really added to the feel of the game and it wouldn't have been the same experience without it. I do not know whether the music for this game is original or not but nevertheless I would like to comment that I did like the change of musical styles between each change of environment. The entire speech mechanic was very satisfying to use, I particularly liked that Mercenaries had elected to implement scrolling text to the textboxes, as opposed to just throwing a block of text onto the screen, looking at the translation mechanic it worked flawlessly and the only thing I would ask of the dialogue is that there would be more of it available. On terms of navigation, it was at times confusing, however, this may have been intentional to lead the character to enemies.
Of course I also have a long wishlist of things I would like to see improved, one nuisance, for example, was the eternally smiling characters, even as the world is ending, which created a sort of dark humor, at the very least. This is accompanied by a few graphical inconsistencies, such as the pixel art used for the items in the inventory or for the bridge, which was rather an interruption to the flow of the game, I would also like to see a death mechanic, as there is no incentive just to use a pointy stick for everything otherwise. The theme and handicap were implemented into the concept very well, however the hype object was nowhere to be found. I would say that a little polish here and there could have offered a lot of improvement. I could continue to talk bout this game for a while but for now, I think I'll spare you all the pain.

Sirham - EXTINCTION

This is a pretty solid job for 3 hours of work and, surprisingly enough, I ended up clicking away for almost half that time myself. The whole experience, although I was trying my level best to wipe out whole species' by drowning and burning them, was rather relaxing. And that I'll certainly say was ironic. Aside from the simplistic nature of the game I will say I was thoroughly impressed that Sirham had added a difficulty option even with the time restraints. One thing that, it was rather clear, was a losing condition. Other than that, even without using the handicap or the hype object, EXTINCTION has a lot of replay value and I will be returning to it later.

Kepons - Cave Conquerors

Like Sirham, Kepons brings us a great example of working around time restraints; Cave Conquerors was made over the course of only one day and still somehow managed to create a great distraction from whatever I was meant to be doing today. The game felt great to play, for a comparison, I would say it was a bit like stylized chess, the gameplay is extremely solid and everything is quite balanced in terms of abilities vs strength, the art had a rather cute and fluffy feel to it and nothing seems very out of place in this game. Again, other than the lack of handicap or hype object, I would love to see this game with multiplayer, as I could have hours of fun with that and I would like to see some music or sound added.

NAL - Ink Cipher

I have not yet played your game, purely because my brain is not really in a fit state for puzzlers, give me 24 hours and check back here

From the biggest team in the jam, Everybody's gone to the Raptor, a firm contender for best name I've heard all year; It's an absolute victory in terms of the overall aesthetic; the game is an amalgamation of stunning backgrounds and animations, accompanied by some great music, and I'd like to thank whoever was responsible for that for some great eye candy. now I'll be honest, an infinite runner isn't the most creative entry we've had, despite this, however, the gameplay is generally quite enjoyable and I had a good few tries (I'm not sure of my comparative skill though, high score at the time I'm writing this is 430.) The game is unfortunately not without bugs, you can literally escape death if you are fast enough, though that's not gamebreaking and is definitely cheating if anyone *cough* actually uses it *cough cough*. There was only one thing I would say to add, which is a reset button, as I don't want to have to restart the whole game every time I die. In conclusion, not an original concept but one that was pulled off extremely diligently.

Misu - Jeffery the Jurassic Animal

I have two things to say about this game:

Misu you monster.

and

Misu you absolute genius.

This game has an extremely good shot at Best use of handicap for me and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this were the same case for a lot of you, I won't spoil it for the rest of you but trust me when I say It's one of the best ideas I've seen so far. Aside from that, there's only a few things I'd like to add; one thing I like about this game is the way Misu has managed to fit in multiple goals, for example, having to kill all other dinosaurs before you can kill your own character (I told you it was depressing) which keeps gameplay interesting, and the difficulty of the game, which seemed very balanced to me, not getting boring or frustrating as far as I played. Of course, Jeffery is not without fault, occasionally you will hit your head on invisible ceilings and platforms but that was the only major drag I experienced. In conclusion, a rock solid game that I enjoyed very much. Great work.

Teroil - Babe's Bordel

Babe's Bordel, despite my not knowing what in the world a bordel is (and apparently neither does my spell checker) did manage to keep me playing for an hour or two after I got past what I thought was the impossible second level (it's not, don't worry), however, what I'll say about this game is that it's a little bland. It's a platformer, it's pretty well built in terms of gameplay but it's a little mediocre. There's no real idea behind the game and, most of it being pixel art, it doesn't really tie into the theme at all. There were a few bugs: some rooms seemed to play much slower than others (though that could have been my computer) and the game needed to be shut down via task manager, but otherwise it's nothing more than a standard platformer that will keep you a bit entertained. Unfortunately a little unremarkable.

XOR - Dino time

I was unable to run your game at a reasonable speed on this machine, I will try again tomorrow on my friend Ben's more powerful machine. Please check back in 24 hours

Detective Pixel - Grandpa and the Dinosaurs

Another very pretty game, extremely cutesy art that catches the eye with smooth animations and beautiful graphical touches like wavering grass and blurs behind characters, interesting storytelling and I would love to see Detective Pixel take this further. The game feels almost FEZ like in character, I found the game's controls were very responsive which made the experience that little bit more immersive. As a game I can't fault it, aside from the lack of handicap and hype object; it was done flawlessly. Really there's not very much else to say here. It's an awesome game; go play it if you haven't yet.

Edited by SilverSteeples, 16 November 2015 - 05:46 PM.

8

If there are any bugs, issues or anything else you'd like to report, I'm certainly listening. Just comment in the forums, PM me, tweet @silversteeples or text me on 07470389041 (UK number, charges may apply)

Best Use of Pets - Everybodys gone to the raptor by Jobos Jam Juggernauts

Best Presentation - ???

Best Reviews - Survive and Tribe by The M
Best Devblog - Survive and Tribe by The M

The Reviews

Sorry my reviews are a little last minute but I have only had a couple of hours to spare, anyway this is what I have done.

Spoiler

Survive and Tribe byThe M

Apart from a few bugs I chose this game as my winner because I found it an enjoyable game to play and returned to it a couple of times

Anki the sumer scientist byMr magnus

I enjoyed the different style of this game to other jam games and it is a unique take on a match three game.

Dino Delivery by Ixlegraw

A fun platform game, would of loved more levels but fun enough even with 1.

Prehistoric Arena by Mrbear91 and mAnlk800

An easy battle arena game with simple graphics. There needs to be some feedback on when the enemy or character are hit and it would have been nice to see different levels.

Rusken and Stella: Mammoth Revolution by Greenblizzard

I have not seen many 3D games done in GM let alone played one and this was pretty eye opening and I would love to see the source code for this game. An interesting use of the hype object if you class the mammoth as a pet. I did not like the way you had to watch the story again on retrying.

Dinosplore by Shadow_Lancer

Is a good game for children, simple colourful and easy to do. But not much going on other than walking around Rawring. Didn't feel any reason to hurry to collect the coins, and why coins and not something more prehistoric. The text was a little to quick would have been better to be able to end it my self rather than automatic.

Jeffery the Jurassic by Animal Misu

A simple platform game that uses the theme well but the handicap takes away the enjoyment of the game.

Extinction by Sirham

I read that you didn't have much time to do the jam and with the 3 hours that you had you made an okay game and were on theme.

Dinoman bythe_ch8t

Not a bad idea but the screen shake was way to violent. There wasn't much to do except jump up platforms would have been nice to do something like puzzles or interaction with the dinos some how. I felt that the roll animation was too quick to see it. With all that said the music was pretty good and the option to rebind keys.

Cell Wars byLordDestroyer and Leafy

The idea is interesting kinda like Agar.io but I never felt like I was making much progress and felt that I was not in control of the character. When I used the split function it always left me with a defeat. I would have liked that the smaller you are the faster you can move as there is no way to come back from being a small cell.

Ghost Hunt by Chaosmore

A simple top-down shooter with not much to do. I think the game needs more to do and more feedback on direction, the character does not turn organically and the aiming would be better if the character didn't move around the mouse. It's a nice idea but needs more work to make it better.

Cavemen and Dinos by NightOwl35

A basic platform game with not much to do. The character looked lifeless and could do with some animation when idle. When you get killed some kind of death animation rather than returning straight away to the start would be nice. The background was a different pixel size to the foreground.

The Caveman's Guide to pets by Mocgames998

A weird game that I found hard to play as I never seemed to get much food to feed the hand looking pet. The graphics weren't that good as during the rampage the dino had a stiff neck. Lots of improvements needed to make this game better, interaction with pet, graphics and some kind of progression.

Rob the museum by SilverSteeples and Zedmonkey

Sadly a 2 player game and I have no friends so can't really play it with anyone to review it.

Time Stranded by trg601 and moon489

Could be a nice game but aiming when standing still should be more accurate which ruined the game for me. Something more to do would be nice like pick-ups or maybe a different weapon. The character graphics were good but the rest could be better.

Make way for Sid by nivarthiakhil

Interesting puzzle game but too short and easy, some different level shapes would be good. Some low level music would also make the game better.

Cellection by Snail_Man

Nice idea but the AI needs some work as they get stuck on the corners and sometimes get into positions below the player ship at remain there for a while. The music was good and the way you loose your abilities. However it would be nice if you regained health to regain those abilities.

Dino Smash by H3lli0n

Not very interesting game just a point and click with not much innovation. For such a small game I don't see why there needed to be an installer, also I had to end the program through task manager as could not exit.

I couldn't bear to keep this out of the top three, so here's a mini review.

-Polished artwork

-Interesting gameplay

-great use of handicap

-Map could be better designed to lead between dinos

-platforming engine could use some work (feels a bit too twitchy)

Reviews:

Spoiler

Charging Your Phone in Prehistoric Times Simulator 2015 by Zombies Indie House

Spoiler

Overall, this is a very solid entry, but not quite perfect! While the charming pixel art and frantic gameplay are enough to elevate this above most jam entries, the experience is somewhat weakened by a number of small graphical issues and a couple minor design oversights- and a less minor one. However, the game still holds up, in part because of its presentation. The sprites are clean and ,for the most part, easily readable (I’ll come back to that “for the most part” bit a little later). There are a few graphical annoyances, however. The collisions seem a little buggy, in that the player sprite flashes and rapidly snaps back and forth whenever it hits a wall. I assume that this is the result of trying to make an air-tight collision system, but the solution you settled on severely damages the smooth feeling of the rest of the gameplay. Aside from the graphics, the presentation is nearly flawless. The sounds work well, and the decision to cycle between music tracks each round was definitely a wise one. The handicap is not present, but the theme is used brilliantly. The juxtaposition of a cliche prehistoric setting and the gameplay gimmick of charging a cell phone was an awesome idea and gives the game an… interesting flavor.

The gameplay is where most of the issues show up, but it is still pretty impressive despite that. The high speed of the player character and the small amount of time between lightning strikes keeps the game moving, contributing to the breathless pace and the “just one more game” addictiveness. The weapons are satisfying to use, especially the cell phone flashlight. Hurriedly pushing away enemies as the mob grows ever larger and your power dwindles makes every point-defence section feel like it could be the last. However, the design of the level itself isn’t quite on par with the movement and weaponry. Instead of an open field with arbitrarily placed obstacles, it would have been nice to see different locations on the map designed to create different challenges. For example, sometimes the lightning could strike in a canyon with walls on two of the four sides, meaning players would have to fight against a mass of enemies coming from each direction, and then somehow slip through the crowd after they recharge their phone. Other times, the lighting could strike in a clearing within a thick forest, requiring players to dodge trees and dinosaurs on their way in and out. Another minor issue is the design of the cavemen. Their is no strong visual cue when they are about to throw their rock, or it atleast wasn’t strong enough to catch my attention while playing. That wouldn’t be much of an issue, except that the rocks move far too fast to dodge. As a result getting damaged by the cavemen feels like you’re being cheated instead of feeling like you messed up. The final, and most problematic, issue is the size of the view. In a game with such high player speed and a focus on circle strafing and avoiding huge crowds, the view needs to be large enough to see enemies from far enough away to react to them. The view in your game is far too zoomed in, and as a result, I found myself running into rocks, trees, and enemies before I had any chance to change course. The problem is compounded by the fact that the player doesn’t stay at the center of the view, meaning that there might be a tenth of a second between seeing an enemy and running into it.

For the most part, you guys did a great job. With a few graphical and design tweaks, this game could be near perfect. I highly recommend that you flesh this idea out into a full game. What you have here is the beginning of something potentially great.

Stick and Stone by Mercerenies and Hiznpellagio

Spoiler

This is obviously a project that could’ve used some more development time, which is to be expected from a team working from time zones 12 hours apart. The basic ideas are compelling and many of the raw components- the art, music, engine, and story concept- are reasonably well developed. Unfortunately, some poor design decisions, the incompleteness of the story, and the severe lack of polish cripple the final product. The art was clearly done by someone with real talent, but in-game, there are some notable, immersion breaking, graphical glitches. Some NPCs have a very conspicuous, amateurish, black outline around them. I’m not sure if the outlines were a deliberate move to make the tan-ish characters pop against the tan-ish background, but it is obvious that the art didn’t originally include them. Aside from that, the item sprites are an entirely different style than the rest of the artwork. I understand that the change is because Mercerenies had to finish the graphics, but it makes the game seem very unpolished. I suspect that you would’ve had time to finish all of the artwork if you had focused the story around a few well defined characters instead of constantly introducing new ones who only say a few lines, but have their own dedicated artwork. Moving on from the artwork, the theme is generally well implemented, with the mixture of futuristic and prehistoric imagery. However, it would have been more effective if the different time periods were on-screen at the same time more often, instead of being mostly separate. Another issue is that in the swamp, the two characters you meet aren't very prehistoric, which further weakens the intended past-future contrast. The idea behind the use of the handicap is very clever, but it doesn’t work very well because the health bar constantly refills, meaning that you never talk to anyone when you have low health. Unfortunately, the handicap isn’t the only problem with the gameplay.

The gameplay and design is where this game really starts to struggle. To begin, the puzzles are very weak. Most of them simply revolve around being told to find something and then finding it. As a result, the experience falls into to the common adventure game trap of weak gameplay acting as nothing but padding between story details. In stronger adventure games, the puzzles and story support each other, becoming one and the same (think about the crime themed story in The Wolf Among Us and the similarly themed puzzle and interrogation gameplay elements). The combat system has the similar problems. Because of the constantly refilling health bar, the enemies never get more difficult. Instead they just take more time to defeat as you wait to heal between attacks. The last two enemies, the robot and the “boss,” took me about 5 to ten minutes each to defeat, which was horribly boring and completely killed the pacing. To make matters worse, like the puzzles, the combat is largely unnecessary as far as the story is concerned. Instead of being full of meaningful confrontations that have been built up to and carry narrative weight, the game relies on the crutch of random encounters. One final gameplay issue is navigation. Either the world of Stick and Stone is built in non-euclidean space, or one of you just didn’t map everything out before coding. When you click on two different arrows pointing in opposite directions, you expect to go two different places, but you can end up in the same room. The lack of attention to navigation means that some areas are extremely disorientating, especially the forest (which makes no geometric sense what-so-ever). Of course, there are a lot of classic adventure games with poor gameplay. The story is what’s really important in this genre. If only the story in Stick and Stone was that good.

The narrative isn’t bad by any means, but it isn’t as well written as I would’ve hoped. Each character only says a few lines of dialogue and then becomes irrelevant. I never got the sense that the characters I was meeting were real people, mostly because the only things they said were hints or sidequests. In addition, the main plot line is extraordinarily weak. I rushed off to go find someone that I didn’t know anything about because he kidnapped a girl that I didn’t really have any reason to care about. If I had known who the villain was and if the girl had some dialogue to make her seem more like a human than a quest giver, than I would’ve felt much more compelled to find and beat up the bad guy. What’s worse is that I seemed to be playing the least interesting story in the game. “Cavemen defending a town from dinosaurs using only the most primitive weaponry,” “a prehistoric swamp man being abducted and experimented on by time travelers,” and a witch fighting T.rexes” all sound like more interesting story concepts than “save the girl from the bad man.” While the narrative isn’t bad, it’s just not quite strong enough to prop up the lackluster gameplay.

Overall, the game was good, but nowhere near great. I suspect that with a lot of extra work, this could be something special, but not in its current state. As of right now, it has the raw components of a great game. Someone just needs to take the time to put them together properly. I genuinely hope to see this game expanded on in the future as well as more collaborations between you two.

Da Numskulz by Dadio

Spoiler

Reality is an illusion. There is no life. No death. We all march on towards eternity, inventing bedtime stories- God, science, heros, villains- to distract us from the truth that we all know: the universe is random and meaningless. No amount of praying or theorizing or gallantry can change it. Sometime in the future, everything will be dark and cold. And then it will turn to dust. Nothing that we do will be remembered, and it won’t have made a difference. No matter what us humans do, no matter what some alien does, no matter if we become “gods” by our own definition, the universe will end as a desolate, cold, dark void. And yet we keep going. We refuse to acknowledge the truth. We keep lying to ourselves, staying optimistic in the face of crushing hopelessness- almost as if we are all on some sort of endless high. But there is a voice in the back of each of our heads- a voice that asks “When will it end?” Da Numskulz is a manifestation of that voice. We can keep taking the drugs and refuse to acknowledge our own smallness, but one day it has to stop. One day it will all come crashing down, and all we will be left with is the vague knowledge that our “existence” is futile.

Or maybe not. Maybe the only way we can find true meaning is to give up our romantic distractions and embrace the truth. Maybe then we can transcend the bounds of “reality,” our own invention, and discover what lies beyond. But first we have to stop. We have to end our earthly high, and we have to do it before it is too late. In Da Numskulz, the music pounds into your brain until it becomes natural to simply keep clicking, to keep prolonging the meaningless task until it is ingrained in your soul. That can’t happen to the human race. So what if we break the cycle? Do we stare into the eternal void, and, like a frightened dog, fright-pee on the ground, and then return to the endless rhythm? Or do we look at the truth, and, like humanity has done from the beginning, see opportunity and hope just beyond the horizon? It will be a true test of our courage and fortitude, but there is a chance. The longer we wait the smaller that chance gets. Da Numskulz is a desperate plea for change- for the truth. Hopefully it won’t fall on deaf ears.

Everybody’s Gone to the Raptor by Jobo’s Jam Juggernauts

Spoiler

Honestly, I’m not sure what happened here. The majority of the game’s pieces are very competently made. Unfortunately, they’re stitched together into an ugly, incohesive mess. While the art and animations are, for the most part, superb, their styles clash. Similarly, the gameplay has a solid based, but it is wrecked by some horrendous design choices. Beginning with presentation, every individual asset is gorgeous and the animations are stunningly well done for a three day competition. The character and raptor sprites are chunky and stylish, while the backgrounds are lush and detailed. But they don’t go together. The character sprites are very pixelated, but the backgrounds, obstacles, and ground are smooth, with much smaller pixels. As is always the case with mixed resolutions, the game looks unprofessional and muddy, as if two games that had nothing to do with each other were suddenly shoved together. Another graphical annoyance is that the environments don't exactly transition from one to the next. Rather, they just kind of randomly appear with a seam running between the two backgrounds and tilesets. It looks awkward completely breaks immersion. In the future, try to make smoother transitions between areas using some specialized backgrounds and tiles. As far as the audio goes, it’s mostly fine. However, the music could have been a little more intense to match the tone of the gameplay. The theme is decently implemented, but not very creative. There’ve been a lot of dinosaur and cavemen games in this jam, and your game doesn’t do much to distinguish itself. The idea behind your use of the handicap is interesting, but the execution is shaky. I’ll get to the specific reasons why a little bit later.

Sadly, the game fares worse gameplay-wise than visually. What might have been a fun endless runner is ruined by poor design across the board. To start with, the controls are just a little to stiff for a twitchy platformer. The animations can’t be canceled out of, so there’s almost always a short, but perceptible, pause between pressing the jump button and actually jumping. What’s worse is that sometimes you can get stuck rolling between two obstacles, forming an obnoxious loop of uncancellable animations, often leading to an undeserved demise. Another massive flaw in the gameplay is that the difficulty is flat. From the beginning of a run to the end, it never gets any harder. Instead, the same few obstacles repeat over and over at the same density, until the poor controls eventually do you in. In addition, the levels completely lack variety. There are only a few different obstacles sprinkled between some small pits. The ground doesn’t even change elevation, so all of the jumps are the same size. As a result, the game is incredibly boring, even after only a few plays. Not that you’ll easily be able to play it twice though, because the game commits the worst sin an endless runner can: there’s no restart button after you die! All there is is a message saying that <esc> quits the game. The genre’s entire gimmick is that every game is different, so why would you make it hard to start over? Even worse, when you do exit the game and open it again, there is an unskippable cutscene. Never, NEVer, NEVER make an unskippable cutscene at the beginning of every run of a permadeath game!!!!! If the game was a traditional platformer with lots of levels and non-permanent death, then a cutscene at the beginning wouldn’t be an issue. But since you restart from the beginning after every death, you have to watch it over and over and over again. Playing this game multiple times for this review legitimately felt like work because I got so bored of that cutscene. Back to the handicap, while the idea is creative, the implementation is half-baked at best. There seems to be no difference between running with all of your limbs and running with just one leg. Some kind of gameplay feedback as well as the visual would be much appreciated and a lot more fun. Currently, the limb-loss system is more of a health bar than anything. Think about how Mario games work. While your size indicates your health, it also directly affects the gameplay. When you are small, you have less health, but you are also harder to hit. Your game desperately needs a similar system. More importantly though, the criteria for actually losing seems entirely random. Sometimes you fall in a hole and then appear back on the ground with one fewer limbs. Other times, you just get a game over despite having full health. Another issues is that you can respawn behind the raptors, so there is no way to progress without losing another limb, which usually ends in a game over (but sometimes it doesn’t). I really hate to be this blunt, but everything about the gameplay is simply poorly designed and executed.

There was definitely a lot of talent going into this game, but it needed to be focused. More time should have gone into planning and less time into cringe-worthy pop culture references. I don’t want to sound overly harsh or discouraging, but this game seriously missed the mark, despite having so many well made pieces. At least you won’t make some of the same mistakes in future projects.

I am no longer taking requests. I will take more once I finish reviewing the games already requested!

Instead of reviewing all of the games and giving a little feedback, I want to focus on a few games and give more detailed criticism. If you do not request a review, it is very unlikely that I will get to your game. Of the people who do ask for their games to be reviewed, I will do my best to get through as many as possible.

Reviewing Order:

1. Zombies Indie House

2. Hiznopellagio and Mercerenies

3. Dadio

4. Jobo's Jam Juggernauts

5. Baron_Mercury

6. Misu

How my reviews will work:

Instead of reviewing a few set features of a game (ex: aesthetics, gameplay, story, etc.), I will write an in depth review of what applies to your game. For example, I won't judge the aesthetic of a text-based game or the story of a simple arcade game. However, gameplay will always be judged and considered a top priority. Reviews will be in paragraph form. There will not be a numeric score or plus/minus system, as those would not work well with the rest of the review. I have a tendency to come off as harsh in my reviews, but keep in mind that all of my criticism is meant to be constructive (of course, I will acknowledge something that is done well).

Everybody's Gone To The Raptor by Jobo, RAZzullix, Flaeon, Sezri and Chaosmore

Cave Conquerors by kepons

Extinction by Sirham

Cave Conquerors by kepons

Spoiler

This was a nice idea for a turn based game. I felt a lot of time was spent moving individual squares at the start of the game, but once I got the hang of what was going on it didn't seem to be a problem. I enjoyed working out tactics to advance and take out other dinosaurs, but in the end I won simply by flying a pterodactyl through a route I had cleared by killing stuff to reach the cave and win. It was pretty good though for a 1 day game, it just needs improved AI and maybe more balancing (although I thought it was balanced fairly well anyway).

Everybody's Gone To The Raptor by Jobo, RAZzullix, Flaeon, Sezri and Chaosmore

Spoiler

I quite liked this game- it looked great and I liked how you lost limbs as you got closer to not surviving the next mistake! It was nice to have an easy to play game that gave a challenge to try and do better. Would obviously benefit from highscores, and I also found it annoying having to watch the intro text on each re-play. It looked and sounded good, I thought the graphics could perhaps transition more smoothly between terrain types, but that's fairly minor.

Extinction by Sirham

Spoiler

Depsite the lack of instruction I managed to kill all of the dinosaurs. From what I think was going on was when I killed a certain type of dinosaur a certain way, it would replenish stocks of weapons in order to kill other dinosaurs. It wasn't terrible to be honest, because it had me puzzling over it enough to actually work through and kill them all. As far as I saw increasing the difficulty just increased the spawn rate (and maybe starting ammo?), but I am on my laptop so mouse movement was a bit restricted, and with so many spawns it wasn't possible to play harder difficulties.

God's Laboratory by ghandpivot

Spoiler

I really like this game. It was simple to pick up and offered a good amount of challenge. I found the pipe graphics confusing at first- my mind saw the up-down pipes as left-right, and visa-versa. I think the thick parts I saw as walls, rather than parts the water could flow. That was my only gripe with this game though, I got stuck into the puzzles and sometimes thought "is this even possible", before then finding the solution, so that was well done!

Ink Cipher by NAL

Spoiler

As expected this game is very nicely polished and works well. I didn't have time to actually finish a puzzle I'm afraid, but it fulfils the criteria needed for this type of game. One thing I noted is that if you quit a level and restart it, different starting letters are filled in, effectively allowing a means of cheating. I realise this defeats the point of even doing a puzzle like this, so I suppose it doesn't matter and may just be a tool someone could use if they were really stuck.

Stick & Stone by Mercerenies & Hiznopellagio

Spoiler

This was a decent game which seemed well put together. It had me playing for a fair amount of time as I kept been interested in the next part. I'm not actually sure I got particularly far- I couldn't cross the river and time isn't on my side, but I spent a while trying to find the solution. I liked the game's style and for what I saw of it have no complaints!

The Dark by dadio

Spoiler

Impressive logo duplicated four times, two of which don't quite fit on the screen. I thought the game had an immersive story line and the difficulty gradient was perfect!

The control system was.. strange, and the background!! P:LEASEEWWEWEWSEDFGVYFY!J ~!~! MAKE A FRIGGIN BACKGROUND!!!!!!!! I DONT EVEN KNOW IF IM MOVING!@!!@!@@#@@

sorry,

3/10

Everybodys_Gone_to_the_Raptor_by_Jobos_Jam_Juggernauts

Spoiler

No.

First off. I loved the Jurassic World reference.

Not much else I liked. The graphics were good, but strangely inconsistent. The man and grounds masks were horrendously small and wrong, and the game was overall too.. messy.. I just really disliked the style.

5/10

Anki the Summer Scientist by Mr_Magnus

Spoiler

Nice game. I likes the whole empire-building thing. Also the particles were nice, except for the lag they made. Online high score are the best. The music was brilliant. 7/10. Super game.

Additive Blending the Game by Floofpaws

Spoiler

Loved it. 10/10

Grandpa and the Dinosaurs by Detective Pixel

Spoiler

I spent waaaay to much time on this game. Eventually, after putting on Foals' "My Number" song, I finally finished it. I really really really reaaaaaallly hate how the esc key doesn't exit the game or at least skip the ennndless (but rather funny) dialogue.
It took me a while to discover that Grandpas stories were untrue ones made for entertainment sakes. :D I love the whole fluidity of the game. The way that everything sort of flowed and changed angle

This game would have been 10/10, but the esc key thing lowered it to 8.5/10.

Awesome game, DP

Cave Conquerors by Kepons

Spoiler

Interesting little game. Pretty fun, the only strategy I have seen so far. The AI wasn't super clever, though, but it was definitely a better AI than I could ever program. Gg. Nice graphics, no music(!) and no bugs!

8/10

Dinosplore by Shadow Lancer

Spoiler

I liked the voice, and the graphics weren't bad, but the game was really long and boring, and yeah, it didn't make sense. :D gg Shadow. 6.5/10

Cell Wars by LordDestroyer

Spoiler

Wow.. I think certain people are wiser than I.
How do you even..
Regenerati.. Blah
Cells
Biology
i is confuse

5/10

Your Fault by Tsuka and Yal

Spoiler

Ok
I see
Hard
Game

I am
Ded

9/10

Neanderthals by Hay Man Mark

Spoiler

Not much of a "Game" per se

6/10

Dino Jam by Lindon45 and Panzergiest

Spoiler

That cuscene at the beginning, although entertaining, was waaay to long to watch again. Pls make it skippable! D: Otherwise, nice graphics, nice music, nice gameplay, the guy moved a bit slow, but otherwise well.

What was I supposed to do after I had collected ship parts?

7/10

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal by Misu

Spoiler

Wtf

That is all I have to say

6/10

Trilobytes by RekNepz

Spoiler

First thing i did was make the mistake of opening the source code. After the actual exe loaded, I aimlessly watch trilobytes or whatever do thier thing. Okay sim I suppose? Not much point. I love the way you put an installer icon on the exe, though. 4/10

Cavemen and Dinos by NightOwl35

Spoiler

Aughhhhhh! Such a fustrating game! But pretty! I want to play more, but I have not the time.. I enjoyed this. But hard. A very very nice chalenge. :D HOwever: Thne controls were the crappiest I have en=ver used. A and D and Space? ! Seriously dude. Use like the arrow keys! would be 8.5/10, but 7.5 because of the controls which made the game near impossible to play. 7.5/10

Time Stranded by trg601 and moon489

Spoiler

Really really hard at the beginning. Gets better the further you get, until you start a new wave. Then you die. The graphics were .. interesting. I liked the whole smooth feel of the game. Also, nice music choice. :D gg. 6.5/10

Cavemen with Peashooters by GameDevDan

Spoiler

Wow.. Very long, for a jam game, very polished, very solid, and very very fun. Nice and challenging and well made. The music was amazing and fitted well with the game.. Basically 9.5/10 would play again. That end part! Super hard, but you got to a point where the skeletons did nothing but run around the bottom and it wasnt a challenge anymore..

Otherwise great game, Dan! 9.5/10

CyberDino by ExentriX

Spoiler

Very short and ugly sweet game. There was not much to it, and the tiles werent even finished!! And if you rotated while near a wall and your tail and yourself would get stuck...

2/10

The Dark by Dadio

Spoiler

Wow. Only dadio could make a -1/10 game! I am impressed

-1/10

Charging Your Phone in Prehistoric Times Simulator 2015 by Diptoman

Spoiler

Yes.
Thats all I have to say about this one.

Jk

This game, simply put, was good.
Less simply put, it was a work of art. A piece of culture and beauty that transcends mere games.

It was really fun. The only thing I didn't like was the way the dinos tended to pile upon each other.
Not that there was a way to avoid that. Not was there an amazing use of the handicap..

gg wm.

9/10

Dino Delivery by L/Ixelgraw

Spoiler

Wow

Super fun! :D Still a bit short, and it will get less fun if you play too much, I enjoyed very much the graphics and smooth plaformer engine. A nice idea, and decent music.
A very "full" game for a jam game.
One thing I saw not was the use of the theme Failiure must result in something other than progress.. I suppose you lose your combo, but I don't know..

gg. Well made.
8.5/10

Prehistoric Rescue Ranger by Mortalo

Spoiler

Its short.
I found no bugs, except for the highscore showing 0 whenever you exit and restart.
The graphics were consistent and not bad looking, I like.
Gg. Well made game.

I dont have much else to say..
6/10

Gods Laboratory by Ghandpivot

Spoiler

I like. Very original idea, and not too hard. I enjoyed the perfect difficulty for a jam game, and the cleanness of the overall game This gets like a 8/10

I never got to write a proper review of

Stone Trek by aamatniekss & Squarebit

Spoiler

, but it got a 8.5/10

THE BOARD:

1. Cavemen with Peashooters by GameDevDan
2. Dino Delivery by L/Ixelgraw
3. Grandpa and the Dinosaurs by Detective Pixel

Sorry guys and girls unfortunately I couldn't get through all of the games. I've working 10 hours a day 7 days a week and it's exhausting. I've rated the games as far as I've gotten. If you think your game is better than the top 5 then I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to play it.

Votes:

Spoiler

1st. Survive and Tribe by The M

2nd. Stone Trek by Squarebits and Aamatniekss

3rd. Stick and Stone by Mercerenies and Hizopellagio

4th. Clash of Primordial Godesses by Floofpaws

5th. Oviraptor by Blake

Best of:

Spoiler

Best Use of Theme: Oviraptor by Blake

Best Use of Handicap: (Three way tie goes to:) Your Fault by Yal and TsukaYuriko

Best Use of Hype Object: (Two way tie goes to:) Prehistoric Rescue Ranger by Mortalo

Best of the Worst (Games that scored less than 10): ROB THE MUSEUM by SilverSteeples and ZedMonkey

Worst of the Worst (I hate you Dadio ;P): The Dark by Dadio

Reviews (48/48):

Spoiler

Caveman And Dinos by NightOwl35

Spoiler

First issue I ran into was I got stuck in the Help menu for a minute because I didn't realize that Spacebar was the back key. However I did like that the game instantly tells you how the handicap is implemented. Another issue is that the game window isn't re-sizable my laptop runs on high resolution so I had trouble seeing it.

Once into the game I found many long jumps that often resulted in getting hit by enemies that I couldn't see until they were too close to move out of the way. Also found a minor bug where jumping up underneath a pterodactyl resulted in it dying. You also have to be ultra precise where you land because of how quickly the enemies move and I found myself constantly getting hit on the first platform. Overall a pretty neat little game though I wish it had check points because I found myself getting pretty far only to be killed and sent all the way to the beginning without any kind of high scores or acknowledgement that I had played.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

-Easy to learn

-Has music

-Something that you could play when you have just a few minutes to muck about

Cons

-Getting hit takes forever to recover from both the first and second times in a run.

-No audio controls

-Didn't realize there was a double jump until mucking about trying to make a jump over and over

Scoring (32/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 8/10

= Cavemen and dinosaurs didn't exist in the same period . Also cavemen and dinosaurs were used a lot in this jam.

Use of Handicap: 7/10

= A great use of the handicap however it only works once per run. Maybe if the caveman had multiple pieces of clothing it'd be better.

Use of Hype: 3/10

= I suppose turtles technically count as pets...

Presentation: 7/10

= Overall a great presentation however I wish there had been some way to turn down the audio without turning down my computer volume and adjust the screen size.

Game Play: 7/10

= Pretty smooth gameplay again had issues with losing the clothing taking forever to recover from and double jump wan't obvious to me right away.

God's Laboratory by Ghandpivot

Spoiler

This is definitely an interesting one. I had a little bit of trouble catching on to the mechanics right away and the 'hints' were no help other than to make me laugh. All in all an interesting little game, no story to speak of but a great puzzler. The ending seemed kind of blah though and wasn't really worth it. I was trying to find a pause menu and hit esc and it instantly closed it out on me. However it was nice that it let me know I could use certain keys to skip forward to the level I was on.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Definitely put my mind to work trying to figure out the solutions however some aspects are never mentioned and you have to figure out how they work through trial and error.

- The 'Hints' were great!

Cons

- The Music. Sorry it was getting on my nerves and as far as I could tell there is no way to turn it off in game.

Scoring (27/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 8/10

= Definitely a unique view of the theme.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= There was nothing that resulted from failing other than having to restart that specific level. The theme said "FAILURE SHOULD RESULT" sorry but that wasn't present.

Use of Hype: 3/10

= I guess the fish that pour out could be considered pets...

Presentation: 5/10

= Pretty decent presentation however it automatically started in an unwindowed box in the center of my computer screen and I couldn't move it.

Game Play: 6/10

= Pretty nice play overall however it would have been better if the hints sometimes actually gave hints as I got stuck a few times.

Bonus Points: 5/5

= You made me laugh! Good job. Also yes you shouldn't microwave forks!

Make way for Sid by nivarthiakhil

Spoiler

An... interesting little puzzle game I guess. I have to say I didn't really enjoy this one. I understand the mechanics but it's all about being able to either move quickly through the buttons or memorize which ones need hit when. I really didn't find it that fun and got bored in just a few minutes.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Something simple you can pick up and play for a minute of two.

Cons

- Just tosses you straight into things without really telling you what it's about or how to play, or really anything.

Scoring (2/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= None

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 2/10

= Not horrendous but left much to be desired.

Game Play: 0/10

= Found it hard to click the buttons I needed to in time to actually do anything. Lost many times because I couldn't get my mouse over quick enough.

Grandpa And The Dinosaurs by Detective Pixel

Spoiler

Definitely cute. I love how the grass moves when you move through it. Not much actual game here though.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Cute graphics

- No way to actually fail

Cons

- Very short and no way to restart within the game.

- Less of a game more of an interactive story on rails.

- Had lots of trouble getting past the water at the bottom.

Scoring (17/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 5/10

= This one probably would have gotten a higher score but I fought with myself whether or not it actually fits the theme since because the grandfather is telling his story (i.e. History) it isn't actually pre-historic.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= There is no use here.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= No hype used.

Presentation: 9/10

= Very clean and nice presentation. I loved that the grass moves when you go through it. The story is also really cute if not short.

Game Play: 3/10

= Not really game play. Like I said in the pros and cons it is more of a story on rails.

Dino Time by Xor

Spoiler

This one was a lot of fun to play. Took me a few minutes to figure out a hand set-up to play effectively but once I figured out that holding W and using the mouse for everything else I did pretty good. The weird part was clipping through the trees and grounds and at one point I flew up so high I couldn't see the ground or any trees.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Easy to control and tells you right away how to control it.

- Seems to progressively get harder to avoid meteors at a nice pace.

Cons

- Clipped through the ground and trees a lot...

Scoring (20/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 8/10

= Dinosaurs are overused in this Jam. However it was a nice use of them regardless, would have liked to see more dinosaurs than pterodactyls though.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Once you got hit 3 times that was it you died.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= No pets! How dare you?! ;P

Presentation: 7/10

= Very nice presentation. Good use of 3d graphics and straight forward on how to play and the GUI.

Game Play: 5/10

= Easy to control and play but overall not much going on.

Time Stranded by trg601 and moon489

Spoiler

Controls were rather clunky in this one but it wasn't horrible. At first I thought how many dinos were left was how many bullets I had left and freaked out.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Nice graphics

- Was happy to be able to turn off the audio

- Switching between windowed and fullscreen in game was very nice.

Cons

- Confusing on how to actually win each level.

- Controls were clunky.

- Constantly getting stuck on walls.

- Bullets didn't effect dinos in second wave.

Scoring (15/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= No real story on how someone with a gun got stuck with dinos. Other then the dinos the game doesn't really scream pre-historic.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Couldn't see any actual use of the handicap in the game.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 5/10

= Alright presentation. Graphics were pretty.

Game Play: 3/10

= Was constantly getting stuck on rocks and bullets weren't effecting second wave of dinos.

Prehistoric Arena by MrBear91 and mAnlk800

Spoiler

Well the name definitely has it right you are stuck in an arena fighting prehistoric creatures. Though as far as I can tell the only creatures you actually fight are sabre-tooth cats (maybe?) even though there are also elephants and bunnies on the menu screen.

= Sometimes what you have to do isn't readily apparent and it can be really easy to miss something important.

ROB THE MUSEUM by SilverSteeples and Zedmonkey

Spoiler

Having to have a friend help you to even test this out already raises issues. Generally the single player game should be the main focus of a game not the MP. It was very easy for us to catch each other quickly because we knew where the other spawned and could just toss guard dogs at the spawn point by the middle of the game.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Cool idea

Cons

- Doesn't really fit the Jam theme, handicap, or hype...

- Single player doesn't work, had to force my girlfriend to come over to my cramped computer set-up to play.

Scoring (5/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 1/10

= Only prehistoric thing was the Triceratops skull.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 3/10

= Top menu even states that the single player doesn't work. Not a great start. And the Help menu has no back button.

Game Play: 1/10

= Cool to start but again has no single player and by the middle of the game you can just spam guard dogs at the spawn point.

Solars Pet Sandbox by Nocturnal knight

Spoiler

An interesting game that looks like it had a great idea but the implementation was not very good at all. The controls were not easy to figure out.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Interesting idea

Cons

- Could not figure out the controls

- Idea isn't necessarily prehistoric and planets form all the time around other stars.

- I don't consider planets as a sun's pets.

Scoring (5/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 3/10

= Good try but as I said in the Cons planet building doesn't necessarily mean pre-historic.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 1/10

= Barely counts as pets...

Presentation: 0/10

= Really bad presentation. Could barely understand the messages and the sun image was cropped oddly.

Game Play: 1/10

= It was 'playable' however the controls were hard to figure out and most of the time I had no idea how to do what I wanted it to do.

Clash of Primordial Goddesses by Floofpaws

Spoiler

Short very interesting little game. Can't believe it was built in such an old version of Game Maker. Go Floofpaws!

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Cool little game that you can play a couple of times to try and get farther.

- Very handily implemented handicap that merges seamlessly into the game without actually really being in the game.

Cons

- Isn't really possible to beat the game as far as I can tell and insanely difficult to advance.

Scoring (34/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 9/10

= Creation of the universe definitely matches prehistoric and it isn't something I've seen before or even thought about.

Use of Handicap: 6/10

= Handily implemented so that it matches the game very well and isn't even questionable why it's there. Takes a back seat though.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= Were there pets?

Presentation: 8/10

= Graphics were nice but there was a lot of flashing lights in it and it hurt my eyes.

Game Play: 7/10

= Very hard game. Tried at least a dozen times and only once got past the galaxies part. Otherwise very easy to play

Bonus Points: 4/5

= Can't believe that was built on an old version of GM not something anyone was expecting.

Black Knight 1000 by Baron Mercury

Spoiler

This game... Uhhh.... This game.... I don't know what to say about this game for a summary....

Please don't take this personally. Your game is actually much better than the junk I submitted

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- It's easy to learn

Cons

- It's a tower defense game that isn't entirely clear about what it is right away.

- The movements require knowledge of how chest pieces actually move,

- The health bars are not easily visible.

- I have no idea what is going on with parts of the board vanishing....

Scoring (4/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 1/10

= Sort of there... Kinda....

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Not there as far as I can tell...

Use of Hype: 0/10

= A knight may be a horse but that doesn't count as a pet. No!

Presentation: 1/10

= Just not very well presented in general.

Game Play: 2/10

= The game works. That's about all I can say about it.

Jam Jumper by Mercerenies

Spoiler

I'm sorry Floofpaws! I didn't see you there on the left side! Please don't be mad I let you die!

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- It's a game

Cons

- You suck Merc ;P

Scoring (1/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= None

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype:0 /10

= None

Presentation: 0/10

= Bad be ashamed!

Game Play: 1/10

= Okay it was actually kinda interesting overall...

Oviraptor by Blake

Spoiler

This is an amazing game that is beautifully crafted. The inclusion of a leader board is a great bit too and it was fun fighting the scores of previous reviewers. (I'm actually tied for 3rd with Dodo).

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Absolutely beautiful graphics for the style of the game. Simplistic in design and it works.

- Leader board that let's me go against other reviewers.

- Controls are easily explained as well as the lose conditions.

Cons

- I didn't make this lovely piece of gaming that is Oviraptor!

Scoring (34/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 10/10

= Oviraptors are actually known to have stolen eggs so it's accurate and matches the theme well.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= I didn't really see any use of the handicap anywhere.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= I didn't see any pets either.

Presentation: 10/10

= Wonderfully presented, the graphics are simplistically beautiful and really work for the game.

Game Play: 9/10

= Game takes some time to get use to but you can get the hang of it quickly.

Bonus Points: 5/5

= The high score system is awesome!

Dinoman by The Ch8t

Spoiler

A pretty cool little game with a very interesting way of handling the handicap.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Definitely an amusing little game that gives a very different take on the handicap.

Cons

-Couldn't keep it straight how some enemies could be killed.

Scoring (30/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Dinosaurs again. Good use of theme just overdone.

Use of Handicap: 9/10

= Very unique take. The more times you 'die' the drunker you get!

Use of Hype: 0/10

= Not a pet to be seen

Presentation: 7/10

= The UI was a little weird to figure out but the art was nice.

Game Play: 7/10

= Overall very interesting game play. Like I said before though certain enemies were hard to remember how they died.

Ptero Hunt by PizzaBoy

Spoiler

Silly little game. Good for just playing around for a few minutes when you don't have anything else to do.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Theme, Handicap, and Hype were all present.

- "Controls" were easy to get the hang of.

- Everything is self contained in the first and only screen.

Cons

- Just a toss away game that is alright for a few minutes of play.

Scoring (23/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 5/10

= An alright use of the theme though not a lot of it.

Use of Handicap: 7/10

= Miss and a cat dies. So sad

Use of Hype: 5/10

= Cats run about at the bottom of the screen but if you miss you kill them.

Presentation: 5/10

= Alright presentation. Definitely shows that it only took 90 minutes to make though.

Game Play: 1/10

= You shoot rocks at pterodactyls that's it.

Cave War by Joh

Spoiler

Pretty interesting although it takes quite a while to understand how the mechanics actually work in this game regardless of the help menu which unfortunately doesn't help that much.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Once the mechanics are learned they are easy to use

Cons

- Some of the clicking isn't obvious on how it will effect things

Scoring (18/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= DInos and cavemen. Not much else to say here that hasn't been said before.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= As far as I can tell nothing happens if you lose.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 6/10

= Nice Presentation though the text is clunky

Game Play: 5/10

= Understanding how to play was pretty difficult but once I figured them out they were pretty fun.

Dragonmen by Boysano

Spoiler

I actually had no idea what I was trying to accomplish while playing this game until I finally started hitting the other 'player'.

Scoring (1/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= Honestly didn't see anything here that counts as prehistoric...

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 0/10

= I had no idea what was suppose to be going on most of the time. And was I throwing bananas?

Game Play: 1/10

= Took forever to actually figure out how the click to shoot worked and it kept hitting things that weren't there.

Cellection by Snail Man

Spoiler

Looks more like a space battle game than a cell game...

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Easy enough controls with the arrow keys

Cons

- Constantly getting swarmed by interlinking particles that there was no way to dodge

- Doesn't tell you what controls you'll be using.

Scoring (10/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 2/10

= Only real use of the theme is it saying it's a single cell battle royale.

Use of Handicap: 5/10

= Pretty interesting that getting 'killed' the first few times cause your ship cell to react in different ways such as slowing down.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 3/10

= The graphics are kinda meh but the UI in the background looks nice.

Game Play: 5/10

= After finally figuring out that I could use the arrow keys the game was interesting to play. However it's impossible to dodge the enemies shots once it gets a minute or two in.

Ghost Hunt by Chaosmore

Spoiler

The controls are kinda clunky and non-intuitive. The whole spinning the camera around the player when you aim in is hard to get use to.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Fun for a few minutes.

Cons

- The camera is difficult to cope with.

- The black screen around the player masks the bullet count so it's hard to know when you run out of bullets.

Scoring (9/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= None (In fact the ReadMe specifically states that it doesn't follow the theme)

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Same as above

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 5/10

= Game pops right into things so if you haven't read the ReadMe then you have no idea what is going on. Pretty nice otherwise.

Game Play: 4/10

= Hard to control because of how the camera spins around.

Ham's Joke Game by SirHam

Spoiler

This 'game'..... Why?

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Short (Thank God!)

Cons

- Everything else

Scoring (2/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= None

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 1/10

= There was a duck... I don't know maybe that counts as a pet.... Or maybe Tim is an animal imaginary friend....

Presentation: 0/10

= Just.... No....

Game Play: 1/10

= It plays that's all I can say about it....

Cave Conquerors by Kepons

Spoiler

A neat strategy game. Requires you to use your mind and figure out what does what and how. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Fun game to pick up and play for a bit.

- Quick and easy to learn.

Cons

- Short games and no kind of continuation.

- Game closes after winning/losing

Scoring (20/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Dinos

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 7/10

= Good presentation overall. "Controls" are well explained. However what the bits in each dinos info don't really become apparent right away.

Game Play: 6/10

= Pretty nice playing it. How each dinosaur moves and attacks could be better displayed though.

Neanderthals by HayManMarc

Spoiler

Not really a game. Just kinda sits there....

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Cool graphics

Cons

- Not really a game

- Had to track down the game in the games thread to see if there was anything I could actually do...

Scoring (11/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Cavemen Ugg Ugg

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 4/10

= Really nice graphics overall but there really isn't much to the presentation.

Game Play: 0/10

= It's not really a game...

Extinction by Sirham

Spoiler

Interesting however not really that great. It was hard to figure out other than pressing the left mouse button.

Scoring (10/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 6/10

= Dinosaurs....

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 3/10

= The UI isn't apparent on how it should be used.

Game Play: 1/10

= Not much too it and hard to figure out at first.

Caveman's Guide To Pets by Mocgames998

Spoiler

Art style feels a bit clunky for the game but it's not too bad however the controls were hard and I had trouble getting food to feed my dino.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Has great ambition.

- Cute idea for a pet game.

Cons

- Controls are clunky

- Couldn't get food to feed my pet

Scoring (27/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Uga Uga notha caveman n dino gam

Use of Handicap: 4/10

= I only sort of count this one as following the handicap you couldn't fail the game really but failing to collect food meant your dino didn't get fed.

Use of Hype: 6/10

= It's so cute that you can pet it and make it love you!

Presentation: 5/10

= Presented pretty nicely but the graphics leave a lot to be desired.

Game Play: 5/10

= Clunky controls made getting food for the dino hard

Stone Trek by Squarebits and Aamatniekss

Spoiler

Definitely like the fact that it tells you almost right away how to toggle the music on and off. Overall it's actually a pretty interesting game however the UI is a little confusing to figure out. Each of the icons could have done with a small bit of text to tell me what each of them was. I was able to figure it out eventually though.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Very pretty

- Easy to control

- Interface is very caveman-y (i.e. Ugg means Yes)

- Some text pop-ups are rather amusing to read

Cons

- Text pop-ups get repetitive

- Seems like only the first time you try to recruit animals works but not later times.

Scoring (35/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 8/10

= Cavemen but it's done very well actually.

Use of Handicap: 8/10

= Failure results in you either being able to give up or find a new tribe. Very nice!

Use of Hype: 5/10

= You can recruit animals to follow you which is pretty close to having pets.

Presentation:7 /10

= Nice graphics, cool text boxes, and simple opening. However like I said before the UI is confusing at first.

Game Play: 7/10

= Very fun to play and the controls are easy to use. The text boxes get a bit repetitive at times though.

Charging Your Phone In Prehistoric Times Simulator 2015 by Diptoman

Spoiler

Going to say that the name is very long. If for some reason I refer to it again in this review it will be shortened to CYPIPTS15.

Okay this was actually a very heart racing game. It only lasted on average about 80 seconds before I died but it got my blood pumping. I think after about 60 seconds it gets a little bit overly intense.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Awesome idea

- Easy to play

- The controls are very easy to use and learn

Cons

- Get's really intense really quick.

Scoring (26/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Good use and an interesting take on Cavemen and Dinos

Use of Handicap: 2/10

= Failing to get hit by lightning doesn't result in failure unless you fail multiple times.

Cool little game that seems really well put together. Did have one issue where I accidentally clicked off and then it made my character continually move right and I couldn't get it to stop.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Well built.

- Seems to be a fully functioning and polished game. (Good Job)

- Size changing and sound right on the main menu

Cons

- Issues with clicking off

Scoring (23/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 6/10

= Why do they have peashooters?

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Didn't see any

Use of Hype: 3/10

= There was one cat sleeping on the roof... whoo....

Presentation: 8/10

= Well crafted and nice.

Game Play: 6/10

= Have to be very precise where you jump and had issues with clicking off causing problems.

After Pixel by Sammi3

Spoiler

Nice little 3d platformer. Wasn't expecting it to be voiced and it scared me a little bit at first.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Very simple but well done in it's simplicity

- Controls were easy to use and fun

Cons

- Needs a way to turn off the music and voice.

Scoring (15/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= Not sure how the first pixel counts as prehistoric.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= No way to fail

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 7/10

= Very well presented however the audio was a little overbearing.

Game Play: 8/10

= Nice and easy to learn controls.

Anki!: The Sumer Scientist by Mr. Magnus

Spoiler

The controls text on the main menu flashing was a bit obnoxious. I had trouble actually figuring out how to play the game and it wasn't apparent what I kept doing wrong while failing the third era over and over.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

-Rather simple to use which makes it good for picking up for a minute or two.

Cons

- Confusing game play.

Scoring (8/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 0/10

= Sumer is actually one of the earliest places that we know of to have writing so it's not really prehistoric

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Failure does not result in anything

Use of Hype: 0/10

= No pets

Presentation: 5/10

= It's pretty but there are so many problems with the actual presentation itself.

Game Play: 3/10

= Things are not very well explained.

Jeffery The Jurassic Animal by Misu

Spoiler

I honestly don't think any game so far has annoyed me as much as this one. That's both good and bad as it was annoying but it definitely makes the game memorable.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Amazing use of the handicap.

- Cute graphics.

- Great controls and set-up

Cons

- Annoying that the tutorial texts would get covered up.

- Kept hitting the underside of platforms causing me to fail and having to restart.

Scoring (28/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Overall nice use of the theme, though I could have done without the complaining about the theme at the beginning.

Use of Handicap: 9/10

= Probably one of the better uses of the handicap even though it was annoying at times.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= No pets.

Presentation: 6/10

= Nice but again could have done without the complaining.

Game Play: 6/10

= Pretty good and straightforward gameplay except I kept getting stuck when I'd hit an invisible wall on the underside of platforms.

Dinosplore by Shadow Lancer

Spoiler

Glad in the end the momma dino found her baby but getting all 100 of the coins was boring overall. The attack and jump being in there was kinda useless and I'm not sure why you even included them.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Completely adorable art style for the dino.

- Got the plants right for about the time frame.

Cons

- Takes too long to find the last few coins.

- Took 5 minutes of walking around in a grid to find the last coin.

Scoring (22/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Raawwwwrrr!

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Didn't see the handicap anywhere nor anyway to fail.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 9/10

= Very nice clean presentation.

Game Play: 6/10

= Nice game play although the jump and attack were useless and the last few coins seemed to take forever to find.

Dino Smash by H3lli0n

Spoiler

Just a massive click spammer that made my hand hurt...

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- It's playable....

Cons

- Not very interesting.

- Hurt my hand to actually try to play.

Scoring (12/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 5/10

= Why are the dinos already dead in a prehistoric game? On top of that why are they moving?

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 4/10

= User interface is nice however no info on what the powerups do is given. Figured out 1 and 3 but 2 is still a mystery to me.

Game Play: 3/10

= Like I said before not much to do and ended up hurting my hand trying to play it.

Adam by JackOatley

Spoiler

Was pretty fun though had to kill myself to continue on and also got a fatal crash when trying to upload to the high scores.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- A pretty neat concept.

- Easy to use once controls are learned.

Cons

- Had a crash error.

- Wasn't sure what the point of the game was.

Scoring (21/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 4/10

= Assuming the name is a reference to Adam and Eve. If so the bible tells the story of them so it isn't prehistoric in a sense.

Use of Handicap: 7/10

= As long as you have had babies dying results in starting the next generation.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 5/10

= Nice presentation however the controls and effects are not made clear.

Game Play: 5/10

= Had to die to continue and also got a crash.

Wac A Mammal by Nocturne

Spoiler

Pretty fun whack-a-mole style game. Had a few graphical glitches here and there but for what it is it's fun.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Cute animals

- Really well built game

Cons

- A couple graphical glitches

Scoring (29/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 9/10

= Nice use of the theme.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Failure results in failure

Use of Hype: 8/10

= The mammals are too cute to not be thought of as pets.

Presentation: 7/10

= Very nice looking game but had a couple of graphical glitches where some animal ears would stick up even after they went back down.

Game Play: 5/10

= A simple clicker game.

Dino Delivery by Ixlegraw

Spoiler

An interesting single room platform game with a cool goal.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Good length for time limit long enough to give you plenty of time while short enough not to get repetitive and boring.

Cons

- Kept smacking off the underside of platforms.

Scoring (28/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 8/10

= Dino game but a cute use of it.

Use of Handicap: 7/10

= Failure to deliver within 6 seconds results in loss of combo. Pretty good use of the handicap actually, didn't catch it the first time. Thanks Ixle for letting me know.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 7/10

= Nice presentation but no way to turn off the sound in the game...

Game Play: 6/10

= Fun gameplay but kept smacking off the bottom of platforms.

Extinction: Mars by Lindion45 and Panzergeist

Spoiler

Well started out the game right by dying and being forced to restart the whole game because there is no "You Died" screen or respawn.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Beautiful artwork

- Great use of innuendos

- Funny dialog (the first time through anyway...)

Cons

- No indication that the Space Bar is how you proceed through opening cutscene

- No way to skip the cutscene

- Couldn't find the very first objective (the toolbox)

- Once killed there is no way to continue

Scoring (19/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 6/10

= Cool way of bringing in the theme though not entirely certain it actually takes place in prehistoric times.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= None

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 8/10

= The cutscene art was beautiful however the contrast between the cutscene art and the gameplay art was jarring

Game Play: 5/10

= It was alright gameplay but I couldn't advance the game at all.

Oldworld Babes Bordel by Teroil

Spoiler

An alright platformer but the puzzles just become to hard too quickly.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Pretty neat use of mushrooms as jumping points.

Cons

- The puzzles become hard way to quick.

Scoring (18/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 6/10

= Not entirely sure when this is suppose to be set.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Failure results in death and loss of progress.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 7/10

= Alright presentation overall. No way to turn sound off though and the instructions for controls are wrong.

= Very nice presentation however it was a little hard to see what was going on.

Game Play: 7/10

= Tricky and interesting puzzles. Wish there was a tutorial to learn before getting thrown into things though.

High Tops Rampage by DiligentDodo

Spoiler

An alright infinite runner.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Pretty graphics.

- Very interesting idea

Cons

- Couldn't get past the T-rexes.

- Kept missing the jumps.

Scoring (19/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Dinos

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Couldn't find any use.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 7/10

= Presented really well however making the game play with the G key wasn't obvious right away.

Game Play: 5/10

= Unfortunately had too much trouble playing it to give it a better score.

CyberDino by ExentrixZ

Spoiler

I died the first time attempting to jump over a cave man and tried to figure out how to restart the game. Had to completely reload the game to do that though. Also had to look up the game in the game thread to figure out how to get past them (shooting with the space bar).

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Easy to control

Cons

- No projectiles to show you are actually shooting.

- No show of how the controls work.

Scoring (11/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 5/10

= I have no idea what is actually going on here.

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Failure results in having to restart the entire game.... great....

Use of Hype: 0/10

= Nada

Presentation: 3/10

= Not very well presented but the graphics are interesting.

Game Play: 3/10

= Game play just isn't very good and very simplistic.

Dino Die by Nallebeorn

Spoiler

Has very interesting if not annoying (and slightly disturbing) use of the handicap.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Good use of handicap

- Easy to play

Cons

- The music gets kind of disturbing if you get hit too much.

- The window kept hopping around my screen every time I got hit.

- Changing the size causes the graphics to flip out.

Scoring (/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= Dinos

Use of Handicap: 10/10

= Awesome use of the handicap even if it did cause the window to spaz out.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 7/10

= Presented well but the wording was a bit confusing and the different window sizes caused the graphics to freak out.

Game Play: 7/10

= Nice game play however it was made difficult by my window move across my screen.

PreRun by Forester

Spoiler

The two files being in the Zip confused me at first but I think I figured out which one to play (v0102 right?). I have to admit though that when I died the first time and it called me by name it was a little weird until I realized it just pulled up my computer's local user name.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Cool idea even for an infinite runner.

Cons

- Sound was annoying and there was no way to turn it off.

- Seemed like I could go through some gaps but not others.

Scoring (16/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 5/10

= I think it matches the theme. I'm not sure...

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= When you hit a rock you die nothing else.

Use of Hype: 2/10

= I think the main character is some type of dog.

Presentation: 5/10

= Pretty nice presentation though the window was a little small.

Game Play: 4/10

= I don't really like infinite runners and this one really didn't bring anything new or interesting.

Mammoth Revolution by GreenBlizzard

Spoiler

This was an alright game. The graphics were beautiful but I wish more time had actually been spent on the game play. I had trouble coordinating both rolling and shooting and more often than not ended up accidentally stopping and becoming an easy target. Also why was the Pterodactyl shooting lasers at me?

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Beautiful artwork

- Easy to use controls (even if they were hard to coordinate)

Cons

- Why was the jump metered?

- Kept getting stuck while aiming at the pterodactyl.

- Who is the character getting captured by the pterodactyl? Why should I care about her? Also how did she disappear from real life?

Scoring (25/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 9/10

= Very nice use if not a bit confusing. (and self-referential in it's confusion)

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= Not quite certain how or if at all it used the handicap.

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 10/10

= Very beautiful and well shown controls.

Game Play: 6/10

= Decent game play but hard to coordinate the controls.

Survive and Tribe by The M

Spoiler

This game was quite a bit of fun however when I finally made it to the final mission my game crashed on me. Which is alright I suppose since I don't actually know what I was suppose to be doing.

Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros

- Very easy controls. I thought I'd be using W more than space because I thought it'd be harder but it was easier than W.

- Awesome use of the handicap and excellently implemented.

Cons

- Well the crash for starters.

- Had no idea what to do in the final mission.

Scoring (38/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 7/10

= An alright use...

Use of Handicap: 10/10

= Very very nice use and well done.

Use of Hype: 2/10

= Are the Dino Eggs pets?

Presentation: 8/10

= Presented well but points taken off for not explaining what to do in the last mission.

Game Play: 8/10

= Good play-ability but I didn't realize I had a ranged AND melee weapon until the third mission.

Bonus Points: 3/5

= The amazing AI makes this one of those times I feel obligated to give bonus points. Both the AI and the detailed explanation in the devlogs on how it was produced astounds me!

Cell Wars by LordDestroyer

Spoiler

Started out interesting enough even though the QWER controls confuse me. Eventually turned into just me and a bunch of red blobs where none of them could hurt me until I accidently clicked which led to me and my new team mate being brutally ganged up on.

Scoring (11/50)

Spoiler

Use of Theme: 4/10

= Guess it could be considered prehistoric, primordial ooze and all that

Use of Handicap: 0/10

= I didn't see any

Use of Hype: 0/10

= None

Presentation: 4/10

= The graphics were clean but overall the help was confusing and there isn't much else to be said.

Game Play: 3/10

= It plays alright but I had no idea I was even moving at first and I have no idea what the buttons do.

+ Solid controls (the last pressed arrow key will always have priority)

- Didn't seem like there were much to do after breeding the first time

- No audio

- The difference between pressing Z and X at the fire was far from obvious at first. It could have been made a little clearer by simply giving torches a proper fire animation.

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: No.

Additive Blending – the Game by Floofpaws

Spoiler

+ Additive blending

+ Messages

- No additive woo counter

- Not much of a game

THEME: Not at all.

HANDICAP: Not at all.

After Pixel by Sammi3

Spoiler

+ Thomas Was Alone aesthetics with Fez gameplay

+ Voiceover

- Too short

- No real interesting levels/puzzles

- At first, I jumped over the chequered square and moved to the end of the stage. But I didn't realized that I didn't actually move when at that white place

- Lacks the subtle detail and polish that makes Thomas Was Alone actually look good (jump animations, for example)

- A/D + Space, with no option to use arrow keys instead. This is kind of a pet peeve for me, I really don't see why anyone would prefer A/D + Space over Arrow keys + Space unless the mouse is involved.

THEME Sort of....

HANDICAP: No.

Anki! The Sumer Scientist by mr magnus

Spoiler

+ Adds a lot of new mechanics to make a unique and interesting match-3 game

- Needs better instructions / a tutorial, too. It took a while until I realized that the military power counter was equal to the number of remaining turns

THEME: Yes, and there aren't even dinosaurs.

HANDICAP: Yes.

Black Knight 1000 by Baron Mercury

Spoiler

+ Fun story

+ Some interesting new mechanics for a tower-defence game

+ Good handicap usage

- INSTALLER!

- No audio

- Bit confusing

- Ends when you lose, discourages you from trying again

THEME: Uh, yeah, I suppose. Definitely in an unexpected way.

HANDICAP: Yes. I believe your game is the first I've played which actually incorporates it, by removing slots when a card reaches the exit. Also by closing the game window when losing, although I wouldn't say that's a good thing =P

Caveborn by TheMasterspiffy

Spoiler

+ Some gold platformer action

+ Collectibles

+ Levels are just the right length to not be frustrating when dying

- Takes waaaay too long to bounce up on mushrooms sometimes. It's just no fun bouncing on a mushroom for 20 seconds to get up

- Not enough variation in obstacles and level design

THEME: Cavemen and dinosaurs. Fair enough.

HANDICAP: You lose your clothes when dying the first time. But you still lose progress as well – the clothes is just an extra, the important thing is restarting the level.

Cave Conquers by kepons

Spoiler

+ Nice art

+ Fun as a distraction for a few minutes

+ Feels like there's lots strategy despite actually being really easy

- No audio

- Bit too short

- Some higher difficulty levels would have been nice

THEME: There are dinosaurs, so yes.

HANDICAP: Well, you lose dinosaurs when you fail a battle. But if you lose (which took me quite a while when I wanted to test that), it's simply game over, and you have to restart the game.

Caveman's Guide to Pets by Mocgames998

Spoiler

+ Fun idea

+ Most quirky pet simulator ever

- The hunting part could use some polish – it's a bit annoying how you can only attack in the direction you're facing, because it means you can't run away and fight at the same time

- It would have been nice if the controls were displayed when going to hunting or rampage mode. Especially rampage, because one might not remember the controls from the readme file.

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: Well, you can't really fail. If you play badly, you'll end up with a lower score of course, but nah.

Cavemen and Dinos by NightOwl35

Spoiler

+ Good art (apart from that mountain in the beginning which has much bigger pixels than the rest of the graphics... =P)

- A/D + SPACE is a pretty awkward combination in my opinion – offering arrow key movement as and alternative would have been nice, especially considering there are keyboard layouts where A/D doesn't make any sense.

- Repetitive gameplay, especially when you have to start all over when dying.

- Odd behaviour when losing clothes – you see your clothes drop, then you're stuck for a moment and can't move until eventually the sprite changes into the naked edition. Huh.

- I think it might have been better if the camera didn't follow the player vertically. Gets kind of messy.

- No instructions for double-jumps – less experienced players might have a hard time figuring that one out.

THEME: Well, you play as a caveman and run around in something that could be a prehistoric setting. But it's not a creative usage by any means.

HANDICAP: Sort of... the lose-your-clothes gimmick is really just a fancy alternative to lives/healthbars. Ultimately, it's still progress you lose.

Cavemen with Peashooters by GameDevDan

Spoiler

+ Overall a nice "sort of retro" aesthetic – both with the graphics and music

+ A pretty fun platformer

+ Peashooters!

- Could use a few more tiles, sometimes it's a bit hard to know where you can walk and sometimes it just looks weird.

- You can increase the window size in the menu, but not decrease it.

THEME: Yeah, even if it's not the most creative use.

HANDICAP: No. Classic progress loss. Well, you lose hearts first of course, but still

Cave War by Joh

Spoiler

+ Nice art, if you put the inconsistencies aside

- It looks like the art for the cavemen has larger pixels than the rest of the graphics (e.g. the cards)

- Non-pixel (and also very boring) font together with pixel art

- Whenever I tried to start playing after going through the map and the putting-cavemen-in-slots section, I got this error and couldn't continue playing:

Spoiler

___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Other Event: Room Start
for object o_db:

THEME: Sure, it's about the creation of the universe... But you've created the game with a "prehistoric" version of Game Maker. Now that's just brilliant!

HANDICAP: Sort of. I mean, you don't lose progress directly when hit by a bullet. But you essentially lose health, which eventually leads to a game over – and you lose all your progress and have to start over.

Cyber Dino by ExentrixZ

Spoiler

+ Dinosaur with a hoverboard. Now that's just awesome.

- Very inconsistent art styles

- No audio

- Couldn't get past the fat, club-wielding caveman(?). No matter how hard I tried jumping past him, I touched him and as soon as I did, it seemed like my health instantly went to zero and my score decreased, and then I was completely stuck and couldn't move at all.

THEME: It's about a dinosaur, so yes I guess.

HANDICAP: It seems like you lose score when touching enemies. And also you lose the ability to continue playing, but I consider that more of a bug than a feature...

DA NUMSKULZ by Dadio

Spoiler

+ ...

+ I think you've surpassed yourself this time.

- Does it even need saying?

THEME: Not. At. All.

HANDICAP: Admittedly, I'm not sure if it really counts as "progress" to get your score up in this "game". But that's what you lose, regardless.

Devil's Symphony by nvrogers

Spoiler

+ Mozart rising from the dead

- Music doesn't loop

- The scrolling background hurts my eyes for some reasons

- It lacks a sense of progress. You can't kill Mozart, there are no levels as far as I could tell, and it's too easy (never thought I'd say that about a bullet hell...)

+ I like the art for the dinos, though it doesn't work too well together with the GUI graphics.

- INSTALLER!! Please, don't use those for small jam games like this.

- Seems like all you can do is click dinosaurs, and then they eventually die...?

- I didn't seem to be able to buy anything – despite having over 100 coins, nothing happened when clicking the heightened senses button, which supposedly costed 10 coins. The other stuff had no price at all.

THEME: Yeah, there are dinosaurs I guess.

HANDICAP: There is no way of failing as far as I can tell.

Everybody's Gone to the Raptor by Jobo's Jam Juggernauts

Spoiler

+ Individual art pieces are good

+ For whatever reason, jumping over stuff is very satisfying in this game. Might have something to do with the caveman's animation.

+ Sliding under dinosaurs

- Very inconsistent art styles

- Wasn't totally obvious when you could actually start playing

- When dying, all you can do is quit. Not restart. And if you quit and want to restart the game manually, you have to wait for the opening sequence to finish. It's almost like you don't want us to play the game.

- Also, the same key that is used to quit the game after dying is also used to toggle fullscreen. That just doesn't make any sense.

THEME: Yeah.

HANDICAP: No.

EXTINCTION by Sirham

Spoiler

+ Nice interpretation of theme

+ Not bad considering the time you spent on it

+ It was actually really fun to play the second time when I had just figured out how to play – thanks to the lack of proper instructions. After that, it was a bit boring, and before it was a little frustrating since I didn't know what to do.

- Somewhat confusing at first

- Apparently all attacks don't work on all dinos, but those immunities don't always make sense (why won't stegosauruses die when I attempt to throw meteors on them, for instance)

- Repetitive, not very fun once you've played it a couple of times

- No sound effects

THEME: Making dinosaurs go extinct. That's nice.

HANDICAP: From what I can tell, you can't really fail at all. But if anything, failure doesn't result in loss at all, but rather in gain (of dinosaurs)

Ghost Hunt by Chaosmore

Spoiler

+ Clean art style

+ Moody music and visuals

- Walking is confusing, because it is not apparent that you do so, thanks to the lack of a proper, tiled ground background

- Aiming is difficult when you pull up your gun quickly, because of the way the character moves (or more like the camera moves, I guess)

THEME: No.

HANDICAP: No.

God's Laboratory by ghandpivot

Spoiler

+ Fun gameplay

+ Clever puzzles

+ Challenging, yet not too difficult

+ Light tone, humorous

- Boring art

- Water doesn't stop automatically when all of it has poured away

THEME: Kind of.

HANDICAP: Failure results in loss of... nothing at all.

Grandpa and the Dinosaurs by Detective Pixel

Spoiler

+ Fantastic art!

+ I love the way the grass moves as you walk past...

+ Multiple endings

+ Humorous

- No audio =(

- No way to restart when reaching and ending

THEME: Yeeah.

HANDICAP: You don't really lose anything when failing, And anything, you lose progress – although the hardest-to-reach ending isn't exactly that much better than the others. But still, idea of different endings depending on where you failed is sort of connected to the handicap.

Ham's Joke Game by Sirham

Spoiler

+ Beatboxing

+ Ducks

- WTF?

THEME: No.

HANDICAP: Gotta replay and try failing...

I lost, m8. And no, doesn't follow handicap.

High Tops Rampage by DiligentDodo

Spoiler

+ Nice pixel art style

- Too steep difficulty curve – the first enemies you face are super easy, but the next ones are, if not so hard to avoid, very hard to avoid and collect the things they drop for points.

THEME: Yes, yes. Dinos.

HANDICAP: You lose points when failing, yes.

Ink Cipher by NAL and GameDevDan

Spoiler

+ Clean art

+ Very polished, at least visually.

+ Great idea, a kind of creative twist on crosswords

+ Procedurally generated levels it seems – although that's not what I would expect from the way you present the levels.

- Too hard, for me at least. Some easier starter levels would have been nice.

- I think non-native English speakers have a big disadvantage – while I can read English without any problem, I don't have the same type of intuitive feeling for words as I have in my native language.

THEME: Not at all.

HANDICAP: Not really, because you can't fail as far as I can tell (unless you give up)

Jam Jumper by Mercerenies

Spoiler

+ Advanced visual effects

+ Physics on the Chance level

+ Unique take on the educational genre, I can learn the names of GMCers by letting them die.

+ Cheat codes

+ Me *^^*

- No audio

- I don't know if I saved Tsuka or Yal. But same difference, I suppose.

THEME: Totally! not

HANDICAP: No idea, I never failed. Lemme check...

....

Ok, nope.

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal by Misu

Spoiler

+ Nice handicap use

+ Fun gameplay

- No audio

THEME: Yeah, I suppose.

HANDICAP: Yep, definitely! At first I thought it would just be a Karoshi clone where the goal is to "fail", i.e. die. But that wouldn't really implement the handicap. But covering the screen was a nice idea! It would be really frustrating if there were more levels, though.

Jesus VS Cat by C.B. Productions

Spoiler

+ That title, man – Jesus VS Cat. Awesome.

+ I assume this is your first game (or one of your firsts, at least), so kudos for actually submitting that to a jam

- Hardly any gameplay – it's just a maze, with no goal and the Jesus enemies(?) are completely harmless

THEME: No.

HANDICAP: No.

Make Way for Sid by nivarthiakhil

Spoiler

+ Original and innovative mechanics

+ Manages to teach the player how to play without really teaching anything

- A bit short

- Ignores both theme and handicap

- Sound effects could be improved

THEME: Not at all.

HANDICAP: No. If you fail, you have to restart, and then you lose progress and nothing else.

Mammoth Revolution by Greenblizzard

Spoiler

+ Hilarious

+ Uses characters from your previous jam game

+ 3D

- Waaay too hard. Managed to get two hits at best. And it's not getting better by the fact that the game gets harder for every time you die. As if cavemen throwing spears weren't enough, the pterodactyl is apparently fire-breathing or something, too.

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: Yes – you'll get a lower start health the more times you die. But that's frankly just frustrating and annoying, and really puts me off to keep trying to beat the game.

Mother Pterodactyl by Assassin7

Spoiler

+ Cure pterodactyl

+ Flying is always fun

- Too short

- While the dinosaur sprite is pretty good, all the other art is way to simple

- The lives are odd... you start with III, then II, then I, then 0, and if you die again it's still not game over.

- Also, lives seem kind of pointless, since you restart from the very beginning regardless of whether you lost all your lives or not.

- No audio

THEME: Yeah, there's a dinosaur.

HANDICAP: Nope.

Neanderthals by HayManMarc

Spoiler

+ Minimap!

+ Rain!

+ Neanderthals!

+ Catchy music!

+ And good art – as always

- Unfinished game – as always

- No interaction whatsoever. I'm lucky I saw your posts in the discussion topic explaining that, or I would have got frustrated over why the Neanderthals didn't do what I said. I wonder how long it would have otherwise taken me until I realised you can't actually do anything... =P

- The pixel art clashed with the font and logo

- The edges of the world are kind of ugly

THEME: Yeah.

HANDICAP: Well. It's not even a game. You can't fail.

Oldworld Babes Bordel by Teroil

Spoiler

+ Pretty clever level design

+ Neat artstyle

+ Optional collectibles for bigger challenges

- Too few checkpoints. Having to play through the dead-hard segments I've already got through is just boring. I didn't finish the game, but I almost certainly would have if there were more checkpoints.

- No way to quit the game without alt-entering out and closing the window, or (presumably) by winning.

- Although actually, one doesn't even have to close the window after exiting fullscreen, due to good ol' trying to draw non-existing surface error. surface_exists() checks, please!

- The dangerous, spinning things don't look dangerous enough. I thought they were harmless until I died... =)

THEME: Umm... It's kind of in the title and the player character looks a bit caveman-y, but usage is really weak. The environment looks everything but prehistoric.

HANDICAP: Nope. Very classic progress-loss only.

Oviraptor by Blake

Spoiler

+ Polished

+ Online highscores

+ Nice pixel art

- Not enough variation

- Stage 1 might be a tad too hard

- As cool as it looks, it's a bit hard to read that bouncing text

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: Nope.

Prehistoric Arena by MrBear91 and mAnlk800

Spoiler

+ While a really simple idea, it's relatively fun and can keep me hooked for several levels by simply increasing the amount of enemies

- No audio

- No feedback for when you or the enemies are hit – a small animation, sound effect or something would have helped me a lot in keeping track of what's going on in the game

- Stones move way too slow when thrown

THEME: Yeah...

HANDICAP: No.

Prehistoric Rescue Rangers by Mortalo

Spoiler

+ Good, consistent and professional-looking art

- No audio

- Instructions in readme file instead of in-game

- Repetitive, some more kinds of obstacles would have been nice

THEME: You're chased by a dinosaur, so yes I suppose. But you drive a car full of kittens, that just doesn't make any sense at all.

HANDICAP: Failure results in loss of kittens, although they really only function as lives.

PreRun by Forester

Spoiler

+ Online highscores

+ Weird custom border

+ You're a mind reader! How do you know my name?! No but seriously, you should need a DLL to get information on username. But there are no additional DLLs in the folder. Hmm, I'll have to look through the manual I guess

- Unoriginal gameplay

- Weird custom border

- The pop-up dialogue when a highscore has been submitted successfully.

I'll come back to this game if I can just figure out how to play, because it seems fun =)

Stick and Stone by Mercerenies and Hiznopellagio

Spoiler

+ Hizno's art is really nice

+ Interesting enough storyline

+ Point and click adventure games are always nice

- The characters always smile in an uncanny way, even when talking about really serious stuff

- Some stuff is drawn by Merc, in a totally different style than Hizno's art

- The rough patches of dirt looked more like stone in my opinion

- It seems like the game assumes you know that girl has been abducted, even if you haven't heard of that.

- Not much incentive to fight instead of running away, since there's often no reward for defeating an opponent.

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: Yes, in a really quirky and original way. Although not all NPCs' speech seem to be badly translated.

Stone Trek by aamatniekss and Squarebit

Spoiler

+ Hilarious

+ Great pixel art

+ Smash faces

- Inconsistent art – I'm mostly thinking of the font here. It actually looks much better than you'd expect together with the pixel art, but still...

- It would have been nice with some tooltips for the various icons and stats to make things clearer.

THEME: Yes. Plenty of stupid, face-smashing Neanderthals.

HANDICAP: Well, if you fail you lose your tribe but I have to admit I don't really care for those stupid Neanderthals emotionally. But still, you did implement the handicap (although I suppose one could argue you actually lose another type of progress when failing – the progress of building up a big tribe)

Survive and Tribe by The M

Spoiler

+ A nice concept

+ Fun gameplay

+ Stuff flying around

+ AI

- You get thrown into the action immediately, with nothing but a sign with the controls to guide you (which I didn't even see at first) A calmer tutorial level would have been nice

- It's somewhat difficult to see who's the player, who's your ally, and who's your foe. It probably would make more sense to have a marker for the player than for the NPCs – it's easier to spot a marker than the absence of one.

- Art could be better

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: Yeees, I think so. I'm not totally sure of how it actually works, but it seems like when you die, you get to play as another one of the cavemen instead. But you'll have lost one ally, although it seems like new caveman spawn over time?

The Dark by Dadio

Spoiler

+ Uh...

- There doesn't seem to be any more to it than four copies of the logo. It's not just a joek gaem, it's an unfinished joek gaem.

THEME: No.

HANDICAP: Progress? Failure? Gameplay?? No.

Time Stranded by trg601 and moon489

Spoiler

+ Nice animation

- Aiming seems to be off, you don't actually shoot straight at the cursor

- When retrying or getting to a new wave, it seems like dinosaurs can spawn right where you are, or very close, and you don't stand a chance (especially since they're faster than you)

THEME: I'm getting a bit tired of dinosaurs to be honest, but yes.

HANDICAP: Nope.

Trilobytes by RekNepZ

Spoiler

+ Cool evolution simulation

+ Source code *drools*

- Not actually a game

THEME: Definitely

HANDICAP: No gameplay, no failure, no handicap.

Volve by Intoxicatious

Spoiler

+ Trilobites!

+ It's a really cool idea, with the evolution and stuff

+ Manages to build up a very nice atmosphere, with the music, dark background and the way creatures move

- Kind of slow and gets boring eventually – I didn't really feel like trying again when I died (which was right after I had evolved)

THEME: Yes.

HANDICAP: Well, it mentioned something about everyone on Earth dying... but meh. It shouldn't have to be explained in text,

Wac a Mammal by Nocturne

Spoiler

+ Best "story" of a Whac-a-Mole game ever

+ Good art

+ Polished

- Repetitive

THEME: Yes. Mammals vs Dinos – the most prehistoric war imaginable.

HANDICAP: Not really. You can lose eggs, I suppose, but those are really just lives.

Your Fault by Yal and TsukaYuriko

Spoiler

+ Some very hectic box-pushing puzzle action

+ Your friends are killed and mutilated. Wait, is that a good thing?

+ Good pixel art

+ I want to replay the game to see all possible endings.... but that would take too long

- It's a bit sad that you don't get a second try to figure out a level if you run out of time or mess up. I mean, apart from the kill-your-friends thing. Cuz that's sad, too of course.

- The seconds in the timer should always be displayed with two digits imo (e.g. 1:05)

It was hard to choose, but I chose the 6 games I personally enjoyed playing the most of. Reviews are down below.

And the best ofs:

Best Use Of Theme - Stone Trek by Squarebit and Aamatniekss

Best Use of Handicap - Everybody's Gone to the Raptor by Jobos Jam Juggernauts

Best Use of Pets - Cavemen With Peashooters(counting the cavemen as pets) by GameDevDan

Best Presentation - Dinosplore by Shadow_Lancer

Best Reviews - Xor (quick simple reviews, and I enjoy the reviews of reviewers)

Best Devblog - HayManMarc (made me laugh)

Reviews {59/59}:

Spoiler

Before I get into the reviews I want to mention that these were from my own personal experience from around the time I woke til about 12 hours later of non stop playing and reviewing immediately afterwards. I either completed the game, got to a game over screen, got stuck, or just felt I had played enough. They were reviewed in order of the randomizer. Tried to keep my reviews relatively short for the most part. Some games, I believe 2, I ran into an error that crashed the game. I posted links to pastebins with the error so as to not make this too long. Also if I misspelled your name in this, I'm sorry, please don't be mad <3.

High Tops Rampage - Diligent Dodo

I really enjoyed the art, but the controls seemed to really propel the character forward or backward. I couldn't figure out how to get the bucking to work, and once the dinosaurs appeared I was a little lost on what to do. Was a fun experience though.

Extinction: Mars - Lindion45 and Panzergeist

I had a lot of fun reading the text at the beginning of this one. It was pretty funny and gave me quite a few laughs. I enjoyed what I had played of it, though I had an issue. I could not find a blow torch anywhere. I was really lost and had no idea what to do. I found a good amount of guns, and ship parts but had no idea what to do with them. Eventually I just started bringing ship parts back in hopes that something would work.

Oldworld Babes Bordel - Teroil

This one actually had me rage quit. It's not bad by any means but man was it frustrating. I also think the controls on the help screen were wrong. They said WASD, Z and X, but it was arrow keys instead. I did enjoy the fire pit next to the start as it was fun just to jump in. Some of the jumps seemed impossible without having use of the mushroom springs which was a bit frustrating. Another issue I had was in the second area, that first jump...I had so much issue with until I figured out that I had to be on the exact edge of that mushroom to even make it. I also couldn't close out of it easily, having to alt+tab my way out.

Prehistoric Arena - MrBear91 and Anlk800

I think I would have liked this one a bit more if it weren't for a few issues I had with it. First I had no idea when I was taking damage. I also felt that the rock was a worthless weapon. It fired way way way too slow. It was difficult to avoid the cheetahs I think they are. I tried playing a later level and found a slingshot I think, but I didn't get to use it much since I died as soon as I got it.

Trilobytes - RekNepZ

Like the readme says, it's not much of a game, but it was fun to watch for a little bit. The mouse being used to scroll was a bit quick for me though.

Neanderthals - HayManMarc

So I had no idea what I was doing when I first loaded this up. Then I looked at the game topic and figured out what was going on. I had left it open with 3 people and then it suddenly turned to 11 and then while typing this it's now at 53. This, like Trilobytes was fun to watch.

Prehistoric Rescue Ranger - Mortalo

Not a bad game at all, but I found it hard to watch when it really got fast. The first level I had played I also found issues with collision where it seemed no matter where I was, I was getting slowed down or hitting something. High Score = 4673.

Solars Pet Sandbox - Nocturnal Knight

This one was...confusing. I had issues getting things to place, and getting menus to come up. Sometimes when I'd click on something, nothing would pop up, then I would do it again, and stuff would be there. It seemed like it would be fun, but I just couldn't figure out what to do, even with the help.

Additive Blending The Game - Floofpaws

Ya...I got nothing for this one...The text made me chuckle a bit but that's about it.

Adam - JackOatley

This game reminded me a lot of Don't Starve. A fun little game, though the night time seemed to come a little too quick, and I had lost any women that were around after the first round of baby making. Had fun with this one.

Cave Conquerors - kepons

This one was kind of fun. I do wish that the enemies cave wasn't hidden though. It was interesting in that I couldn't tell what the enemy had. I also wish that the dinosaurs had health or something so that even if I lost one of mine the enemy's one would be weaker.

Rob The Museum - SilverSteeples and ZedMonkey

An interesting concept, but not having someone else to play with really made it hard to try it out.

Dino Delivery - Ixlegraw

I had a lot of fun with this game, I think my high score was around 313 or so. Tons of fun with beautiful graphics, and fun music and sound effects. My only problem was that the dino controlled a little too quickly for me and it made it hard to do some of the platforming. Overall I really enjoyed this one!

Hams Joke Game - Sirham

Um...ya...that was interesting...

Cavemans Guide To Pets - Mocgames998

This was certainly an interesting play. I had some issues getting the food, and would have rather it just have been dropped and I had to pick it up rather than pressing a key. I think that would have made it a bit easier. The end was kind of fun, though I noticed I couldn't kill the cavemen with torches. Or maybe I just had trouble with it? Anyways my final score was 3745.

Mammoth Revolution - Greenblizzard

I enjoyed this game. It felt very much like Katamari Damacy to me which was rather enjoyable. I did noticed I was getting shot right off the start by the cavemen which was rather annoying. And holy crap that dino shoots lazers?! I thought it was rather fun to play, the switching to a first person perspective really messed with me though, and I couldn't kill the pterodactyl because of how much health it had, and how it just would NOT let up on me at all. I ran out of health too quickly and couldn't find any kind of health anywhere.

Volve - Intoxicatious

This game was pretty alright. It felt like a slower, relaxing version of agar.io. I had fun with it, but my only complaint was that it was too slow. I also never really felt in danger of enemies as I learned that I move a small bit faster then them. I got to the second evolution before I got cocky and got my self killed.

Cavemen And Dinos - NightOwl35

My game, so no review.

Your Fault - Yal and TsukaYuriko

A very unique puzzle game. I ended up letting all three of them die because some of those puzzles were really hard, or I had just got myself caught into a corner and couldn't figure it out. Overall a great game, but I just suck at puzzles haha.

Cave Born - TheMasterspiffy

Not a bad game at all. Played up until about level 4 before I gave up. The hitbox on the mushroom seemd a bit too wide to me, and because of that sometimes I would be bashing my head against the ceiling endlessly until I could move out of it. Some of the jumps seemed a bit to hard to make, and it took me a while to figure out that the longer I stayed on the mushrooms the higher I would go, rather than a constant going of a certain height.

Gods Laboratory - ghandpivot

This game was fun. I got to the second level with eggs in it before I gave up. The time it took for the water to disappear was a bit slow but none the less I had fun. A simple puzzle game, and the tips were pretty funny.

DA NUMSKULZ - dadio

I was scared to open this, and rightfully so. The nightmare fuel background, with the catchy music and simple gameplay made me not want to quit until I got the score of 666. Was pretty fun, and is definitely something I'd love to have on my phone to waste time with, and just have people look at it and wonder what is going on.

Extinction - Sirham

It took me a few minutes to realize what to do with this game, but I think if it was given more time, as the game say it was made in about 3 hours, I think it could've been a lot more interesting and more fun.

Dino Time - Xor

Was a pretty fun game. For some reason it felt like it ran really slow, though. I don't know if it was my computer or just the game itself. It took me awhile to see any meteors coming to hit me, and any time I thought that I'd immediately see some right in front of me. I got to a score of around 200 before I quit. Also noticed when I got hit by a meteor that I got under the ground, and then found out I could just fly under there on my own.

Black Knight 1000 - Baron Mercury

I hated that this had an installer. It just kind of bothered me. Anyways, the game was an interesting concept, but at times became hard to look at. The text got a little messed up as well which made it a little hard to look at. It's an interesting concept having chess pieces be towers, and how they move is how they'd attack. I just wish I could see their attack range while I place them though. It also isn't helpful for someone who might not know how to play chess.

Ink Cipher - NAL

This was an interesting puzzle game. I just honestly did no have the patience required to solve any of these. I tried two of them and then just ended up giving up. Seems like a fine game, just not something for me.

Charging Your Phone In Prehistoric Times Simulator 2015 - Diptoman

So the zip file I had downloaded of all the jam games didn't have any sort of exe file in it for this one...huh...I'll go download it now and try it. Ok, so it seems I couldn't extract it because of how long the name of the game and folder was...That was...annoying. That was a rather fun game. Got swarmed really fast, and didn't really need to use my flashlight til the cavemen arrived. Lasted about 130 seconds before I died and quit. Only issue I had was how fast enemies seemed to spawn in.

Time Stranded - trg601 and moon489

This game just didn't really stand out to me. It was hard to tell where my health was at and most times I felt like I died and it showed me with more health than I though. Like, it looked like I was in the green but apparently not? The dinosaurs also moved really fast and took me down quite quickly. I only made it to about halfway into wave 2 before giving up. Did find a health item in the bottom left corner though which was cool.

Make Way For Sid - nivarthiakhil

Very simple puzzle game. Was quick and rather fun to play. There were no instructions to tell me what the bars did, but I figured it out rather quickly. Not too hard but was pretty fun nonetheless.

Stone Trek - Squarebit and Aamatniekss

This game looks amazing, but I have no idea what I'm doing in it! The gui has a bunch of symbols that I don't understand and apparently a child in my tribe keeps growing up to be a gatherer? The lack of any animation too was a bit bothersome. I kinda wanted to see these sprites move and animate rather than just strech and squish. The text was sometimes funny, but overall I had no idea what to do.

Dino Smash - H3lli0n

Another game with an installer. Really don't like those things for games that are really fairly small, but that may just be me. So this game was just click the dinosaurs repeatedly and collect bones. There were no sound effects or music, so I got bored quickly. High score was like 168 or so before I gave up and quit.

Jam Jumper - Mercerenies

Apparently a joke entry, but was fun to mess around with. Got a score of around 128 before Sammi3 fell. Sorry

Oviraptor - Blake

Really fun game. Even got on the high score board before deciding to quit. Great music and graphics, with simple gameplay. The only issues I had were that the help text moving back and forth made it frustrating to read, and the enemies seemed to just always be on top of me. It took a bit to learn how to get away from them.

Dinosplore - Shadow Lancer

Ok this was just adorable. The end. I really enjoyed this and thought it was really relaxing. It was just cute and that was like all I could say haha. That last coin though was so hard to find >.<!

Grandpa and the Dinosaurs - Detective Pixel

This was a quick and simple game reminding me of stuff like Knytt Stories, and King's Quest. It was short but rather enjoyable. Jumping was a bit hard and having to restart the game after each ending, or messing up of a jump became rather annoying so I gave up and only saw two endings, both of which where I had fallen.

Cavemen With Peashooters - GameDevDan

Was rather excited to play this one after seeing the concept art for it. Really liked the style of how it looked so I'm interested to see what's come of it. A rather fun game. My first attempt I went straight to the end boss room and couldn't get in (woops). Second attempt I got all the other cavemen and went to the boss room with one health left and died almost immediately. At least there's a checkpoint there, however not being able to skip the cutscene was blah. Anyways the boss was a bit hard, where in I mainly just stood where the food was and hoped for the best. Ended up beating it after a few tries. The music was also just amazing. Only thing is I would've liked to have been able to interact with the jack'o'lanterns and the cat thing?

CyberDino - ExentrixZ

Ok...the anti-aliased red text on a lime green background really hurt my eyes. It's...a dinosaur on a skateboard...interesting? Anyways the tiles look familiar to me, and I ended up getting stuck on what I assume is a caveman? Not sure, but anyways I got stuck on him and could not progress and just quit from there.

Dino Die - Nallebeorn

Um...I think this game is broken? When I loaded it up, the size was on "Size Big" and I could not click anything. It was just a mess. Somehow managing to get it to "Size Less Big" fixed this issue. So apparently my cursor turns into a dino and I have to avoid meteors? It was interesting how the screen kept getting smaller and zoomed in until it closed out completely.

Jesus VS Cat - CB Productions

I had no idea what to do with this one. Very confusing, but the name is cool.

Cave War - Joh

Thought the game looked cool until I tried to go to the map and do stuff. I ran into a fatal error: http://pastebin.com/pkzBvxjq(posted to pastebin due to length.)

Dinoman - the ch8t

Got to level 19 before I just gave up. The controls seemed to get...sluggish as it went on, and the screen shaking was really bothersome. Not bad at all, but the issues made me not want to progress much further.

Anki The Summer Scientist - mr magnus

Fun little match 3 game with a sort of civilization building aspect to it. It made me think of Hunnie Pop but instead of dating, it had civilization building in it which I think is a fun concept. I had an issue in one of the eras where I had run out of moves and used all my power ups and just got stuck so I had to quit.

DragonMen - Boysano

Well this is another one that is muliplayer only which makes it hard to really do anything with. I tried anyways and well it was interesting? The sprites and tiles didn't really seem to match up which bothered me, but hitting the sun was rather funny as it fell and turned into a dragon. The pets also seemed rather annoying based on the fact that they sort of just dropped the bannana bombs right onto me.

Clash of Primordial Goddesses - Floofpaws

Well it's a bullet hell and that's pretty much it. I don't really go out of my way to play these but I have found a few that were kind of fun. Anyways I liked how when I died the enemy's health didn't reset. So thanks for that at least.

Survive and Tribe - The M

Well this game was definitely interesting and rather fun to play. Only had two issues with it. Twice I had gotten stuck after dying as a caveman who was stuck in the ceiling and couldn't move. The other issue was in the egg hunting game where after I had lost I had taken the egg back to my teams nest and ran into an error: http://pastebin.com/RVymMP4r(put on pastebin due to length).

Ptero Hunt - Pizza Boy

Well there's not much too this game. Slingshot rocks at pterodactyls and don't hit the cats. The lack of animation also didn't help me with it. Played it for a few short minutes then gave up.

Stick and Stone - Mercerenies and Hizopellagio

A point and click adventure game which was rather fun. I got to a hermit in a swamp before I ended up giving up. I just kept getting lost and not knowing what to do, which is rather normal in point and click games. The other thing is that the hermit seemed really out of place to me. Maybe there was more to it but I don't know.

The Dark - dadio

Ya...I had no idea how to start this one. Pressed every keyboard button I had, and every mouse button. It just had a thing that said "The Dark". I'll edit this if I can figure out what to do.

Cell Wars - LordDestroyer

Even with reading the help I had no idea what was going on. It was just like a cluster of shapes bouncing off each other until I noticed only the red ones and mine were left and then I was dead? It was very confusing.

Eater Eater - theonewhoisodd

Another game with an installer...again, this is just something I don't care for and that's just my opinion. I find them annoying, but it's not a big deal. I think I'm missing something here. Again I don't know how to start it. I click new game and then I get presented with a dinosaur and that's pretty much it? I don't know where to go from there. Again if I can figure out how to proceede I will edit this review.

Mother Pterodactyl - Assassin7

Well this was a rather quick game with not much to it. The controls felt rather floaty to me which made it a little odd to navigate. I didn't know what I was doing at first or if there was anything to it, until I came crashing right into a wall. There's really not much to the level until it's over and you can fly on the ground. That's about it.

Everybody's Gone to the Raptor - Jobos Jam Juggernauts

I love the emotion on the character's face, and the handicap usage of losing limbs was rather interesting. But that's about it that I liked. The game is an infinite runner, where you're being chased by dinosaurs. The music doesn't seem really fitting for the game, and the jump seems rather short. The backgrounds also didn't seem to fit well with the sprites. Anyways it, like other infinite runners are a good waste of time.

PreRun - Forester

So the readme explains that they don't know why there's two folders so I'll try each out. The first is titled "NoVersion". Well that didn't take me long to exit. The music is VERY loud, and the game starts off really slow and sluggish to the point that when it gets to a normal speed that it just feels weird. Now for "v0102". This one is the same thing but with a high score board that opens in my browser. I couldn't save a high score so I'm unsure if it works?

Cellection - Snail Man

Another bullet hell game. Seemed really hard to die on the first selection so I went to the highest one and found so much bullets that it caused my game to lag. It was somewhat fun but I would have rather liked being able to control when I shoot. And the way that it shot made it difficult to hit some enemies.

Ghost Hunt - Chaosmore

I liked the effect that was used for this game. The music also did set a really nice atmosphere. However, when aiming I found that my character kinda jumped back a bit which was a little weird to get used to. Anyways started to get ping pong'd by the ghosties so I ended up stop playing.

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal - Misu

This made me laugh a little. It was pretty funny that the dinosaur wanted to die because of the theme. I wish this had some funny music and sound effects to go along with it. Pressing enter to cover up some of the screen was an interesting touch though at first made me think the game was broken or something. Got to around the 3rd room before I quit because I couldn't make the jump.

After Pixel - Sammi3

So this game was pretty much Thomas Was Alone meets Fez. Not a bad mix up, but there were some issues. First I would have liked to see the little box animate when it jumps. Like make it stretch and such to give it a little more personality. Also, the music did over take your voice at times, so subtiles would have been nice. Speaking of, sometimes I would complete the levels before your story had even finished. I accidentally beat the last level by rotating as soon as it started. I also ran into an issue where when I hit exit on the menu after beating the game, it started it up again and I had to go to my taskmanager to close out of it. A short quirky game that was pretty alright I'd say.

Wac A Mammal - Nocturne

A quick fun little game. It was very satisfying (albeit sad) to wac those mammals. Something I could see myself putting on my phone and just playing when I'm bored. Got a best score of 169 before stopping.

Devils Symphony - nvrogers

The last game the randomiser has given me. Had 34 deaths with 338 points. Yet another bullet hell game, but this one was by far my favorite concept wise. One issue I had was the background moved way too fast and they made it hard to focus on what was going on in front of me. It was hard to keep track of the bullets and my character as the background moved at lightning speed. A less detailed background, or a slower moving one would work better. Loved the music in it, just wish they were of higher quality.

As far as we know, no BLACK MAGIC was involved. None at all! Now please accept our most heartfelt welcome~!

The reviews will be appearing here, sometime, eventually. And the order will be totally random. The games were specifically thrown into a weirdness bubble for that purpose; there should be no negative side effects, maybe except for some of these becoming more Exkakx.

--- EDIT ~1 day before the end ---

Well, this is much less detailed feedback than I originally planned; partly because, and partly because many games felt kinda the same (same dinos, same cavemen, similar titles...). Thus, it ended up with rankings, best ofs and particularly memorable things of some games. ^^"

If you want a more detailed feedback for your game, please shoot me a PM.

General factors that affected my preference:

fun > not so fun > borequit inducing > evil

finished > unfinished > no actual gameplay whatsoever

unusual use of theme > cavemen and/or dinosaurs (they lived millions of years apart, but whatever) > no use of theme

interesting use of handicap > loss of lives/score/other fancy numbers on failure > no use of handicap

all around polished > working pretty much seamlessly > having at least one annoying bug > having at least one critical bug or design flaw (e.g. no hi-score persisting in a hi-score based game) > impossible to reach the game's goal > unplayable > using installer

well-balanced > too easy > too hard

I didn't pay much attention to the use of pet; theme and handicap were more than enough on Jammers' plate (the former severely restricting setting, the latter seriously restricting gameplay).

Top 3:

Stick and Stone by Mercerenies and HiznopellagioSomewhat cool adventure game; while it could use some work round the edges (e.g. text-boxes or some graphical inconsistencies, or the weird arrows), it has quite a lot of content and is actually complete. Very cool idea with translation-jamming use of handicap. Its weakest point are somewhat pointless battles, especially the random encounters.Cavemen With Peashooters by GameDevDanVery nice metroidvania with different kinds of enemies and a boss battle at the end. My main annoyance were probably the blocks; in some areas I couldn't tell the wall-blocks and background blocks apart, as they looked identically. Liked the cat and the pumpkin, and all-around polish.Survive and Tribe by The MKinda cool team vs team shooter, bonus points to include both deathmatch and CTF modes. I liked the touch with a star falling in background in the last level. Could use some trees to spruce things up a bit, though.

Best ofs:

Use of theme: Jeffery the Jurassic Animal by MisuUse of handicap: Stick and Stone by MercereniesPresentation: Cavement With Peashooters by GameDevDanReviews:The M

Volve by Intoxicatious (evolutionary nomming; nice and clean little game, though having to restart after being eaten is kinda harsh ^^")

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal by Misu (platformer; if we were playing a Paranoia session, I'd give you perversity points for the use of theme, handicap wasn't bad, either; got stuck on the first dino-and-caveman level, though)

Now then, some of you people might be confused why I gave "Your Fault" the very last place, even below the installer games. Generally, it has quite a few nasty factors that built up to this; it was rather unpleasant to play and punched me right at the end, leaving me very upset, unlike any other game here (installers, on the other hand, were more like "game down, carry on"). As for the more detailed breakthrough:

Spoiler

Has long and unskippable intro.

It uses Egyptian setting in a Prehistoric themed Jam. The thing is, Egyptian civilisation was already in historic times (i.e. after invention of writing) which is why I didn't consider its setting, despite how cool it is (I'm particularly fond of pyramids, which definitely wasn't caused by primal subconscious influence of Bill Cipher, not at all), to follow the theme. Thus, I can't accept Egyptian-themed museum as use of theme, either.

It has time limit in the puzzle game, leaving little time to think and having severe consequences upon failure.

It provides no instructions whatsoever, which in combination with the no-failure-friendly environment leaves little room to experiment around.

But more importantly:

One of the levels (the first one with lazors, I believe) has no exit button, which in the context of this game counts as a crime orders of magnitude more severe than lack of mute button.

At the very end, there are two buttons. Upon my first playthrough I pressed the green one (going by the basic green = fine intuition and having no other indicators), but it ended up just killing all captives and the bad ending. Not nice. Not nice at all.

The aforementioned buttons end up with the same result, not only making the choice illusionary, but also invoking a guilt in the player for choosing wrong (and also the very fact that I was kinda tricked into replaying the game to just check that).

Overall, it makes progressing through and completion feel extremely unfair and unrewarding (or anti-rewarding, rather), which reserves a special circle in reviewing hell of mine, right below installers.

Also, other Jam participants will be able to claim that, according to me, they made better game than Yal, so the decision to put this game last has higher net benefit (Mill's Fault).

That's it when it comes to my reviews, I guess. Now stay tuned for final results~!

Really cool and fun game, I like the way a player can lose a limb when attacked by the dinos and it's a very simple yet effective game. Solid entry and the use of theme and pets was a nice touch. The parts where your game scored the lowest was on use of the handicap, although you don't lose progress in the beginning, at a point you die and have to exit the game to start again (maybe I just didn't know how to restart it) which was annoying.

2. Mammoth Revolution by Greenblizzard | Score: 8.14/10

Spoiler

The art and polish of the game was really nice for a game made in 72 hours. It was pretty fun.

3. Survive and Tribe by The M | Score: 7.43/10

Spoiler

Well it is a fun concept that is only marred by execution and art really. The bonus points really pushed your score up high since the use of theme and handicap was nice.

4. Oldworld Babes Bordel by Teroil | Score: 7.14/10

Spoiler

Although I found the graphics and presentation a hinderance, the gameplay was solid and slightly hard. I didn't like how the jump didn't feel natural though. All in all, a pretty solid entry.

5. Cavemen And Dinos by NightOwl35 | Score: 7.00/10

Spoiler

Liked the art of the game and the music was alright. Sound effects got annoying after some time but a well rounded game.

Really cool and fun game, I like the way a player can lose a limb when attacked by the dinos and it's a very simple yet effective game. Solid entry and the use of theme and pets was a nice touch. The parts where your game scored the lowest was on use of the handicap, although you don't lose progress in the beginning, at a point you die and have to exit the game to start again (maybe I just didn't know how to restart it) which was annoying.

2. Mammoth Revolution by Greenblizzard | Score: 8.14/10

Spoiler

The art and polish of the game was really nice for a game made in 72 hours. It was pretty fun.

3. Survive and Tribe by The M | Score: 7.43/10

Spoiler

Well it is a fun concept that is only marred by execution and art really. The bonus points really pushed your score up high since the use of theme and handicap was nice.

4. Oldworld Babes Bordel by Teroil | Score: 7.14/10

Spoiler

Although I found the graphics and presentation a hinderance, the gameplay was solid and slightly hard. I didn't like how the jump didn't feel natural though. All in all, a pretty solid entry.

5. Cavemen And Dinos by NightOwl35 | Score: 7.00/10

Spoiler

Liked the art of the game and the music was alright. Sound effects got annoying after some time but a well rounded game.

6. Oviraptor by Blake | Score 6.86/10

Spoiler

Really nice game and looks like one of the main contenders to take the top prize. Gameplay was excellent as so was use of theme.

7. Dino Delivery by Ixlegraw | Score: 6.86/10

Spoiler

An interesting platformer, I take it that the dinos that you run errands for are pets which is a pretty smart way of integrating pets. Use of theme wasn't spectacular but it was solid, music and sound effects weren't bad either. On the downside the gameplay was repetitive and isn't really a game that you would play more than once.

8. Dinosplore by Shadow Lancer | Score 5.86/10

Spoiler

The art of the game is great and the music and sound effects are pretty decent. You just can't do much in the game which is why the score is low. Well polished game though.

9. Dino Jam by Lindion45 and Panzergeist | Score: 5.71/10

Spoiler

Has the potential to be a really nice game but the fact that time ran out on you is pretty evident. Most of the game is just dialogue and I didn't know how to skip it which made the game less replay-able for me.

10. CaveBorn by TheMasterspiffy | Score: 5.57/10

Spoiler

The only real problem I had with this was it's polish but the music and sound effects were pretty sound.

11. Solars Pet Sandbox by Nocturnal knight | Score 2.14/10

Spoiler

Well I thought the concept of this game was absolutely smart but if only you could of executed it better. Like seriously, nice thought on the type of game to make just wish you executed it better. Also I found it hard to understand what to do.

12. CyberDino by ExentrixZ | Score: 1.00/10

Spoiler

I don't really have much to say about this game. There's not really any gameplay.

13. Hams Joke Game by Sirham | Score: 0.14/10

Spoiler

Well in a jam you will always get entries like this so I really wont bother saying much about it. It's not really a game and I gave you some sympathy points.

(If your game is not here it either was not in the Zip or did not work to the level of me not being able to review it in any form or shape with a good heart. If this comes down on your votes blame 1/x.

Spoiler

Charging Your Phone In Prehistoric Times Simulator 2015 by Diptoman

Survive and Tribe by The M

Dinoman by the ch8t

Dino Delivery by Ixlegraw

Your Fault by Yal and TsukaYuriko

Oviraptor by Blake

Everybodys Gone to the Raptor by Jobos Jam Juggernauts

Prehistoric Rescue Ranger by Mortalo

Gods Laboratory by ghandpivot

Stone Trek by Squarebit and Aamatniekss

Dino Die by Nallebeorn

Cavemen And Dinos by NightOwl35

Dino Time by Xor

Grandpa And The Dinosaurs by Detective Pixel

Dino Jam by Lindion45 and Panzergeist

Cavemen With Peashooters by GameDevDan

Stick and Stone by Mercerenies and Hizopellagio

Clash of Primordial Goddesses by Floofpaws

Devils Symphony by nvrogers

High Tops Rampage by DiligentDodo

After Pixel by Sammi3

Ink Cipher by NAL

Oldworld Babes Bordel by Teroil

Cellection by Snail Man

Cavemans Guide To Pets by Mocgames998

Ptero Hunt by PizzaBoy

Cave War by Joh

Cave Conquerors by kepons

Ghost Hunt by Chaosmore

Wac A Mammal 1 by Nocturne

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal by Misu

Adam by JackOatley

Volve by Intoxicatious

Time Stranded by trg601 and moon489

ROB THE MUSEUM by SilverSteeples and Zedmonkey

Cave Born by TheMasterspiffy

DragonMen by Boysano

PreRun by Forester

Make Way For Sid by nivarthiakhil

Cell Wars by LordDestroyer

Prehistoric Arena by MrBear91 And mAnlk800

EXTINCTION by Sirham

Black Knight 1000 by Baron Mercury

Solars Pet Sandbox by Nocturnal knight

Neanderthals by HayManMarc

Trilobytes by RekNepZ

Eater Eater by theonewhoisodd

Dino Smash by H3lli0n

Mother Pterodactyl by Assassin7

CyberDino by ExentrixZ

DA NUMSKULZ by dadio

Jam Jumper by Mercerenies

Jesus VS Cat by CB Productions

Hams Joke Game by Sirham

Additive Blending The Game by Floofpaws

comments on top three. short comments on other games can be found in the google docs sheet below ordered by the name of the game

Spoiler

Charging_Your_Phone_In_Prehistoric_Times_Simulator_2015_by_Diptoman:
I found the game to be challenging, original, and entertaining. It's very very difficult and in the end you had the choice of either spamming your mouse to the point of breaking to fend everyone off or run around in hopes of surviving the hoard long enough to jump into the flashing lightning without stopping to long.

Survive_and_Tribe_by_The_M:

Death mechanic was very cool, the gameplay was entertaining and fast paced despite being very linear and simple. Thus while I greatly enjoyed the narrative I would have enjoyed having a bit more mission variety.

Dinoman_by_the_ch8t:

The game was challenging and utilized the handicap very well. The enemies and challenges were rather well varied and kept the game from becoming too stale too fast. The same can't really be said on the music which got repetative after a while

SPECIAL AWARDS

Most average Jam game (had the score closest to 100; the average score of all entries):

Ladies and gentlefolk. Welcome to the very overly hyped voting by a person of minimal significance. Now live!

This will be fairly standard. I'll play trough all the games (or as many as I can muster) and try to give each a score based on different criteria that I feel it deserves. To save in on the massive time it takes I'll just give a few pro's and cons to each of the games played unless specifically asked to do a full review; I will give a detailed review to anyone who asks; but it will have to wait until I've finished all other games.

I will be using the same scoring system as I usually have. The score your game gets is relative to all other games and is ever changing. The score thus shows how good I find your game to be compared to the average jam game.

I.E

A score of 100 means your game is a perfect average. It's the average jam game.

A score of 200 means your game is twice as good as the average jam game.

A score of 50 means your game is only half as good as the average jam game.

A score of 25 means your game is only 1/4th as good as the average jam game

e.t.c

x>100 => above average

x = 100 => average

x < 100 => Below average

Thus, expect the score of your game to change as more games are added to the rooster and the average shifts up and down. I also do not guaranty I won't revisit your game as I play and adjust the score if I find that it is in the interest of an accurate score.

Unlike other jams I'll be doing this mostly live; meaning you have access to the Excel Sheet and can see me adjusting and reviewing games as well as the current ranking of everybody. The actual rankings and review will then be posted here at the end of the jam.

The voting period ends in four days, so I figured, hey, maybe I should start reviewing games at some point. These reviews will work about like I normally do them: I'll write a few sentences about each game and give them a rating from 0 to 25. The ratings will help me decide which games end up at the top of my final voting list but do not exclusively decide the order of my votes. Note that I'll be playing the games in a randomized order but the reviews will be alphabetized by game name.

Finally, as always, remember that this was a 72 hour game competition. The very fact that you competed and successfully delivered is an achievement, so don't feel bad if my review of your game is a bit harsh.

Games Not Reviewed - If your game is in here, feel free to PM me and suggest some way for me to get around whatever issue compelled me to not review your game. Although I can't make any promises, if I have time before the deadline I'll try to remedy the situation if you get in touch.

I died on the first night. The berry mechanic made sense but it wasn't clear how to get firewood. Still, it seemed like a fairly well polished game; the graphics could've been a bit cleaner (I know it's your style, but it seemed very choppy this time around).

Additive Blending The Game - Floofpaws (4/25)

Spoiler

"I wonder how much your GPU can take" Challenge accepted, sir.

After Pixel - Sammi3 (20/25)

Spoiler

What starts out as a basic platformer becomes an interesting exploration into perspective. A very well-designed platform engine, and the transitional rotations were magnificently done. The voice was a bit hard to understand at times, but that was a small issue.

Anki the Sumer Scientist - mr magnus (10/25)

Spoiler

Definitely needs better instructions. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Cave Conquerors - kepons (23/25)

Spoiler

This game reminded me of Stratego, which was one of my favorite board games as a kid. I really like the creative kinds of dinosaurs and mechanics at play here. This game could use some soothing background music, but that's my only complaint.

Cave War - Joh (5/25)

Spoiler

Some obvious complexity here and no instructions provided. There's really no way I can find out how to play a game like this without being told how.

CaveBorn - The Master Spiffy (16/25)

Spoiler

An interesting game with a ... unique ... take on the handicap. Very simple but I did enjoy that after sifting through loads of other overly complex games.

Caveman's Guide to Pets - Mocgames (9/25)

Spoiler

Couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do and there seemed to be no acknowledgement of whether or not I was doing it right. Needs instruction.

Cavemen and Dinos - NightOwl35 (11/25)

Spoiler

A fairly generic platformer, and the "losing your clothes" amounted to nothing more than a glorified health system, so I can't really say it's a unique way to deal with the handicap when it's just a cosmetic layer on top of a traditional game element. My annoyance with this game was that getting hit not only took health away but froze you temporarily. The whole point of having a moment after getting hit where you're invincible is so that you can get away from whatever hurt you, not so you can sit there helplessly and watch while the invincibility wears off so you can take the next hit.

Cavemen with Peashooters - GameDevDan (16/25)

Spoiler

A neat little open-world platformer. Unfortunately, games like these don't usually do well without checkpoints, which is what I found to be the case here. With a lot of interesting ways to implement the handicap, the choice to ignore it and just make death do a restart sort of hurt this game's potential and made it so that I didn't reach the end. Still, it was a nice game.

Cell Wars - Lord Destroyer (15/25)

Spoiler

This was a really cool idea, but I think the controls were a bit messy. If the background had been more than just a solid color, I would've been able to tell when the view was scrolling, but between that and not being in full control of when I jump, I really couldn't tell when I was moving.

Cellection - Snail_Man (18/25)

Spoiler

A fairly basic shooter that managed to be interesting by taking away my control of when I fire and giving me ample health (and regen) to have a bit of fun. Neat game.

Clash of Primordial Goddesses - Floofpaws (18/25)

Spoiler

A neat game, and I certainly have to applaud you for being brave enough to enter a GM1 game into the Jam. That said, my problem with this game is not its idea; I quite enjoyed the Touhou style gameplay. My only real problem is that it gets waaaaaay too hard too fast. Perhaps it's not for you if you've played this sort of game a lot, but for those of us who don't normally play this type of game this was a nearly impossible game to win right up front.

Charging your Phone in Prehistoric Times - Diptoman (23/25)

Spoiler

A very impressive game with a neat idea behind it. I ended up lasting about 90 seconds. This game felt very polished and well-designed all around.

CyberDino - ExentrixZ (4/25)

Spoiler

A fairly generic platformer that froze up and wouldn't respond after the first time I died.

Da Numskulz - dadio (15/25)

Spoiler

It's a game. Definitely a game.

Devil's Symphony - nvrogers (21/25)

Spoiler

That's trippy. This was a really cool game that was fairly well-executed. It loses some of the challenge since you can't actually properly lose (so the only incentive to even move is getting a high score) but it was still really fun, and I found it really creative that you had the enemies fire at the pace of the song. However, I found the connection to the theme to be sketchy at best. Still, a great game.

Dino Delivery - Ixlegraw (13/25)

Spoiler

While this is a really neat idea (and I really liked the combo interface), the incredibly clumsy controls really messed it up. Barely tapping a direction sends me flying off in that direction, and jumps are only just high enough that I have to be precise, which can't happen when movement is so fast. This made it impossible for me to ever accumulate a combo.

Dino Die - Nallebeorn (16/25)

Spoiler

Definitely an interesting take on the handicap. Although when you make the game so hard that it's pretty impossible to dodge the things up front and then make it harder when you mess up, it becomes a bit impossible to ever do anything right.

Dino Jam - Lindion45 and Panzergeist (9/25)

Spoiler

Was I supposed to be able to pick the ship parts up? Because I couldn't figure out how to. And the toolbox was nowhere to be found. I didn't make much progress here.

Dinoman - the ch8t (18/25)

Spoiler

30 levels and proud of it! I really liked the mechanic here. The game gets more difficult to focus on the more you've died. And the levels were really well designed. Good, solid entry.

Dinosplore - Shadow Lancer (17/25)

Spoiler

A really interesting game. I ended up collecting all of the coins just to see what would happen (the gray arrow that helps you find them is what made me not immediately discard this as a time waster), and I found the ending to be sweet and the gameplay to be very relaxing.

DragonMen - Boysano (3/25)

Spoiler

The game tells me to use LMB. LMB doesn't seem to do anything. The characters just act on their own as far as I can tell. Needs a LOT more instruction, as I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing.

Extinction - Sirham (5/25)

Spoiler

Got stuck early on when I ran out of the torches and skulls with only flying enemies left and the game wouldn't respawn my equipment for some reason. This could do with some instructions. I understand that you ran out of time, but "just figure it out" was insufficient as I clearly couldn't "figure it out".

Grandpa and the Dinosaurs - Detective Pixel (19/25)

Spoiler

A very interesting implementation of the handicap: multiple endings. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the second broken bridge area (assuming it is possible, of course). This was really short but fun to play through. If the dialogue didn't take so long to get through, I'd keep trying to see if there are more than two endings. I really liked the Paper Mario-ish feel of the graphics (Land of the cragnons, anyone?).

Gods Laboratory - ghandpivot (25/25)

Spoiler

This one kept my interest to the end. I do mean to the end. A very impressive game with wonderful puzzle design.

Ham's Joke Game - Sirham (9/25)

Spoiler

It's definitely a game.

High Tops Rampage - DiligentDodo (11/25)

Spoiler

Is there an end? Because I can't read the text at the top (colors clashing) and the game doesn't seem to be changing. Also, the k-button action was really clumsy and I couldn't figure out the timing on it. And what is that pixel-y thing that's slowly coming toward you and seems to be a wall? I'm just very confused; this game could've used clearer instructions.

Ink Cipher - NAL (20/25)

Spoiler

A really neat crossword-ish puzzle. Not at all related to the theme or handicap, but that doesn't kill a game's position in my mind.

Jeffery the Jurassic Animal - Misu (16/25)

Spoiler

A neat platformer with a really interesting take on the handicap. Unfortunately, the rock on the third or fourth stage (I don't remember which) was just incredibly glitchy and I couldn't stand on it.

Jesus vs Cat - CB Productions (1/25)

Spoiler

No instructions, no clear goal, no attack button that I could find. I got nothin'.

Make Way For Sid - Nivarthiakhil (17/25)

Spoiler

A short and simple game that ended up being fairly entertaining. The timings were a bit clumsy and the transitions to different columns could've been made smoother, but the game itself was a refreshing idea and a good implementation.

Mother Pterodactyl - Assassin7 (8/25)

Spoiler

A flappy bird-esque game where the clumsy controls seem to be meant as a gameplay mechanic. However, they ended up just being a nuisance, as I barely tap the arrow keys in a paranoid attempt to move further. That, coupled with the lack of music, very basic graphics, and lack of instructions made this seem like it was thrown together in a very short time.

Neanderthals - HayManMarc (4/25)

Spoiler

Am I.... supposed to be doing anything? I can scroll the screen but that's all I can figure out how to do. Needs instructions.

Oldworld Babes Bordel - Teroil (13/25)

Spoiler

A simple platformer with slightly clumsy movement. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the beginning of the second room. I liked the music and the feel, but the physics need some work.(-3 point penalty for having to use the task manager to exit the game)

Oviraptor - Blake (22/25)

Spoiler

A really fun game. Unfortunately I'm not very good at it. The game as a whole seemed very polished, and it took a good, solid arcade concept and made a really fun time out of it. I got a very Dig Dug-ish feel out of this with the enemy movement patterns and the difficulty progression. A really solid entry.

Prehistoric Arena - Mr. Bear and mAnIk (8/25)

Spoiler

A fairly boring game. The movement was way too quick, so I couldn't be precise, and with rocks that travel about twenty pixels and then kapoot, precision is key. There wasn't much to this one. Needed variety, more weapons, better control, and music.

Prehistoric Rescue Ranger - Mortalo (14/25)

Spoiler

An interesting side scroller game, but it got mundane pretty quickly. It would've been interesting if the grass had just slowed you down, but as best I can tell it was an automatic one-kitten kill, which makes it basically the same as a tree. And the handicap really wasn't applied: run out of health (kittens) and start over. Still, it was sort of neat at first.

PreRun - Forester (17/25)

Spoiler

A simple game without much polish, but it was certainly fun. I do have to count a few points off for show_message, but I'm sure that was just due to lack of time.

Ptero Hunt - ByPizzaBoy (10/25)

Spoiler

A simple idea that implements the theme, handicap, and hype object well. Unfortunately, it did get old pretty fast. I think this game would be well-suited to having an online highscore table, just for the insane players who grind up on it.

Solars Pet Sandbox - Nocturnal Knight (4/25)

Spoiler

I have no idea what's going on and nothing seems to be responding to my clicks. Complex game ideas like this need to ease the player into them, not chuck a wall of text at them and then expect them to know everything.

Stone Trek - Squarebit and Aamatniekss (24/25)

Spoiler

This was brilliant. Just the right blend of serious gameplay and charming wit made a wonderful exploration game in a really well-designed procedurally generated world. I was thoroughly impressed.

Survive and Tribe - TheM (20/25)

Spoiler

A really simple but neat fighter game with an interesting take on the handicap that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Time Stranded - trg601 and moon489 (8/25)

Spoiler

No instructions were provided, so I assume it's just move and shoot. In that case, the dinos are faster which means running away isn't an option, and the cooldown on the gun makes this game nigh unwinnable. So I assume I'm missing something, but with no instruction or tutorial, I can't know what.

Volve - Intoxicatious (11/25)

Spoiler

A fairly generic point-collecting game with a miserably slow movement speed. Not much to this. I was expecting (based on the plot) that I would get bigger the more I ate but that didn't seem to be happening.

Wac A Mammal 1 - Nocturne (18/25)

Spoiler

A fairly generic game but a fun implementation at that, and those eggs made an interesting twist. I ended up with 251 before being convicted of triple egg homocide.

Your Fault - Yariko (25/25)

Spoiler

Why.... why would you do this to me? I got to the end with just the left girl (I think her name was Kat) still alive, and I got to the two buttons. I thought you were trolls who would make the green button the evil one so I hit the red button and she died!

* Twenty minutes later *I. Hate. Both. Of. You. I just played through the whole f***ing game again, hit the green button, and watched everyone die again. There is no happy ending to this game.